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Ugandan Court Frees Six Suspected Al Qaeda Men

The East African (Nairobi)
NEWS
May 5, 2003
Posted to the web May 13, 2003

By A.mutumba-Lule, Special Correspondent
Kampala
SIX PAKISTANI nationals who have been under detention in Uganda over suspicion
that they belonged to terrorist Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, were freed
by a Ugandan Court on Friday under a habeas corpus application.
Justice Patrick Tabaro, who was hearing their application, said in a ruling
that the government had pleaded failure to find a reasonable charge to prefer
against them.
"I am satisfied that the applicants should be released because even the state
has admitted that it has no lawful grounds to keeping them into custody.
"This court has decided that they be released," he said, sending the six into
an excited bout of hugging and chants of jubilation.
"Justice has ultimately prevailed," said Maqbool Ahmed Malik the oldest of the
accused. He told a police officer who had escorted them to court: "It was no
fault of yours; it was a mistaken identity.
"It will take us ages to clear our names. Our case was blown out of
proportion," he told reporters outside the court, adding that his group has
been in Uganda for four months trying to set up an agro-based factory in a
project estimated to cost between $7 million to $8 million.
Asked if the project would continue after their ordeal, he said: "If they are
still interested in our investment, the project will continue."

   

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