A video clip of a masked man firing a surface-to-air missile is currently circulating in Mogadishu. The video reportedly opens with an Arabic text saying Islamic fighters were responsible for a March 9 plane attack - the day of the Entebbe crash - but it does not name Uganda.
It is believed that the Ilyushin-76 plane that crashed at Entebbe Airport a fortnight ago, might have been hit by an Al-Qaida missile. Villagers who saw the plane going down confirmed to reporters on the accident's scene that the plane was indeed in fire when going down. Mr Yevgeniy Zakharov the owner of the ill fated plane told a russian news agency after spending five days in Uganda that evidences on the scene of the crash showed clearly that the cargo plane managed by ugandan businessman Sam Engola, living Entebbe en route to Somalia was either hit by a rocket from a grenade launcher or a Stinger missile during take-off, when its tanks were virtually full with tonnes of fuel aboard. He supported his arguments by alleging that there was nothing left and all the debris recovered by the divers covered less than six meters by six area ashore.
It emerged last week that some American experts from the Federal Aviation Administration were due to arrive in Uganda to strengthen the current probe team including air force and military professionals from Uganda, Burundi, Sao Tome (plane's country of registration) and Russia; the manufacturer.
The plane was carrying 11 passengers believed to be ugandans and burundians on duty with the African Union peacekeeping mission in Mogadishu and supplies to the contingent.
Last week the charismatic leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden had asked to somali Islamic militias to overthrow the newly elected government because it is leaning towards the west. Osama describes the government as a group of traitors and should be thrown out with all western backed forces that are in Somalia.
It's quiet obvious that if the ill fated plane was hit, the missile might have come from an Al - Qaeda weapon.
But the Ugandan government and the Burundian embassy in Kampala trashed Zakharov's allegations describing them as baseless. www.hapamedia.net