What next after capture of ‘Ugandan rebel’ in Dar?

Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr Diwani Athuman 

By The Citizen Reporters

In Summary

The acting director of Criminal Investigations (CID), Mr Diwani Athman has confirmed the arrest of a foreigner, but remained non-committal on his identity.

Dar es Salaam/Arusha. The Ugandan government has sent a team of top police officers to Tanzania to negotiate the extradition of a man suspected to be Mr Jamil Mukulu, founder of the Uganda Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel outfit.

However, the two countries don’t have an extradition treaty.

Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations (CID), Mr Diwani Athman has confirmed the arrest of a foreigner, but remained non-committal on his identity.

He said Tanzanian officers were consulting with their Ugandan counterparts to verify the identity of the man who was arrested in Dar es Salaam and has been in police custody for a couple of days.

Mr Mukulu, who has featured on Interpol’s most wanted persons’ list for a long time, is accused of crimes that include murder, terrorism and treason.

“We have arrested a person who is said to be Mr Mukulu. But at this point I am not in a position to confirm or deny that he is indeed the man he is said to be until we have proved that beyond reasonable doubt.

We have asked Ugandan authorities to come over to assist in the verification,” Mr Athuman said.

He said a tip-off from wananchi facilitated the arrest of the man who is now being interrogated to check out who and what he actually is.

The acting DCI was reluctant to confirm the Ugandan team’s arrival, but Uganda police spokesperson Fred Enanga confirmed that his government had sent a high-level police team to Tanzania for a joint probe into the matter.

“We have sent a team of officers to Tanzania to see how the government can help extradite the Allied Democratic Forces Rebel leader,” said Mr Enanga

In a telephone interview, the police spokesperson said through Interpol, his government had sought from Tanzanian authorities, information on whether the man in their custody was really Mukulu.

“We submitted to them Mukulu’s photographs in different facial postures, to facilitate more investigations and identification,” said Mr Enanga, adding: