Uganda: 5 al-Shabab World Cup bombers given life in jail

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Muszafar Luyima, left, Issa Luyima, center, and Magundu Idris, right, are sentenced for their role in the 2010 bombings that killed 76 people who were watching the 2010 World Cup final, at the High Court in Kampala, Uganda Friday, May 27, 2016. A judge has given life sentences to five men convicted of carrying out the twin bombings in Kampala, while another convicted of being an accessory to terrorism was sentenced to a year of community service. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

KAMPALA, Uganda – A judge has given life sentences to five men convicted of carrying out twin bombings which killed 76 people who were watching the 2010 World Cup final in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

The men were convicted of terrorism Thursday and prosecutors had asked for the death penalty. Two others convicted of similar charges were given 50 years in jail. One suspect convicted of being an accessory to terrorism was sentenced to a year of community service.

Five others were acquitted.

The attacks, for which the Somali armed group al-Shabab claimed responsibility, targeted a rugby club and a restaurant where customers were watching the World Cup final on giant screens.

The alleged mastermind of the attacks, a Ugandan named Issa Luyima, is among those given life terms.

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