Kenyan man sentenced to death for extremist attack

NAIROBI, Kenya – A Kenyan court in the coastal city of Mombasa has sentenced to death a suspected extremist for setting off a grenade that killed one person at a club.

While giving the sentence Thursday, Judge Martin Muya described Thabit Yahya Jamaldin ,35, as a "merciless killer who should not deserve mercy."

Prosecutor Jami Yamin said in his closing arguments Jamaldin that had intended to cause multiple deaths on May 15, 2012 with a grenade and would have done had it not been for a female bouncer who prevented him from accessing the establishment. The bouncer died after Jamaldin returned and threw the grenade which also wounded him.

Authorities link the incident to numerous attacks attributed to Somalia-based al-Shabab extremists who have vowed retribution for the Kenyan troop presence in Somalia.