Get off our territory, Congo tells UPDF FRANK NYAKAIRU & AGENCIES
Kampala
THE Democratic Republic of Congo has asked Uganda to withdraw her troops it
says are deployed in the east of the vast Central African country.
DR Congo's Foreign Affairs Minister Mbusa Nyamwisi told a meeting in Arusha,
Tanzania on Saturday that his government is committed to the principle of
"non-violation" of the borders created by colonial powers.
"Our country calls upon Uganda to withdraw its forces from Congolese
territory, in certain areas of Mahagi in Eastern Province," he told the meeting
that was attended by his Ugandan counterpart Sam Kutesa and other officials
from both nations.
ATTENDED MEETING: Mr Kutesa Mr Nyamwisi called for the withdrawal
of Ugandan troops on Friday, ahead of a meeting of Presidents Yoweri Museveni
and DR Congo's Joseph Kabila. The meeting was intended largely to resolve a
border dispute in which an oil worker was killed in the Albertine region last
month.
The British worker, attached to Heritage Oil - one of the companies exploring
the region - died on August 3 when Ugandan soldiers and Heritage guards fought
a gun battle against Congolese troops. Kinshasa says they were prospecting
illegally in its waters. Ugandan soldiers then captured two Congolese soldiers
whom they accused of illegally crossing the border.
Mahagi, where Ugandan troops are said to be deployed, is one of the several
small towns in eastern Congo that was at the centre of a five-year civil war.
It is located 10km from the Uganda-Congo border from Paidha District in West
Nile region.
An independent security source told Daily Monitor yesterday that the UPDF
uses Mahagi as a guard post against any return of the rebel Lord's Resistance
Army who are stationed in Congo.
"Since the LRA went to Congo, UPDF has been in Mahagi and uses the border
posts of Parombo Panyimur and Goli," said the official who declined to be named
due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Uganda responds
Uganda's Foreign Minister Kutesa, however, described Congo's accusations as a
continuation of the misunderstandings between the two countries over boundaries.
"They think some of the areas along the border where we have our troops are
theirs but we have agreed on a border commission to remark the borders," Mr
Kutesa said in a telephone interview from Arusha yesterday.
UPDF said Congo's claims are surprising. "We do not have any troops on
Congolese soil. These claims are very surprising," said Defence and Army
spokesman Felix Kulayigye.
This is not first time DR Congo is accusing Uganda of violating its territory.
Relations between the two countries have been sticky for nearly a decade.
Uganda reportedly overstayed her welcome in Congo following an invitation by
former President Laurent Kabila. However, he fell out with Uganda months after
assuming power and asked the UPDF to leave his territory.
This followed an abortive attempt by rebels to remove Kabila from power. He
instead invited other foreign forces to replace Uganda and Rwanda who had
helped him oust his predecessor Mobutu Sese Seko. Uganda decided to keep her
troops in Eastern Congo to flush out Ugandan rebels of the Allied Democratic
Forces who were operating from Congo. Following this, Congo took Uganda to the
International Court of Justice for alleged looting, human rights abuses and
territorial violation and won the case. Uganda was asked to pay $10 billion as
compensation for damages.
At the meeting, Uganda and Congo agreed to make further efforts to rid their
countries of rebel groups blamed for destabilising eastern Congo and to end
their border disputes.
U.N. peacekeepers are struggling to preserve a shaky ceasefire in eastern Congo
- home to myriad militia groups - after a dissident general accused government
troops on Friday of breaking the truce.
The east has long been a tinderbox of wars and ethnic conflicts and Uganda
has twice invaded Congo, saying it wanted to flush out rebels.
Congo says local rebels recruit from Ugandan refugee camps while the latter
believes at least three different Ugandan rebel groups operate in the area,
including the LRA leaders who are wanted by the International Criminal Court
for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni and Congo's Joseph Kabila also held talks
in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha aimed at calming tensions over oil
exploration on Lake Albert, which straddles both countries.
The lake is a frontier in the hunt for African oil, with Heritage Oil
(HOC.TO: and Tullow Oil both drilling in concessions around the Albertine basin.
Leaders agree
The presidents signed an agreement to step up efforts to eradicate seven rebel
groups, including the LRA and one led by renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda,
which they described as "negative forces".
"The parties undertake to strengthen efforts to eliminate all negative forces
operating from the two countries," said the agreement, signed by Uganda's
Yoweri Museveni and Congo's Joseph Kabila.
"The parties agree that the process of apprehension, demobilisation,
repatriation, resettlement and reintegration of persons in the negative forces
referred to shall, within 90 days from this agreement, be
undertaken in
either country." Under the agreement, the two countries are expected to deny
sanctuary to any rebel groups and neutralise the LRA and a Congolese group -
the Allied Democratic Alliance, by January 2008.
The two countries, whose relations have been fraught for years, also agreed
to a review of their borders and to open full embassies to boost diplomatic
relations. Presidents Kabila and Museveni also discussed tensions over oil
exploration around Lake Albert - which straddles their two countries. The two
countries agreed to collectively explore and use any petroleum in areas on
their boundaries, and urged Congo to boost exploration on the Albertine basin.
"Where an oilfield is found to straddle their common border, the parties
shall jointly explore and exploit the field and proportionately share the costs
and proceeds."
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