Uganda calls for joint operations against LRA rebels

Uganda on Thursday called for joint operations against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, some of whom have fled into eastern Congo.

The call was made by Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa when opening the Tripartite Plus Joint Commission meeting for Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda at Speke Resort Munyonyo near Kampala.

He said Uganda valued her relations with her neighbors because of shared interests and concerns as well as intertwined history and destiny.

Kutesa emphasized that it is therefore imperative to intensify cooperation in order to champion these common interests and address shared concerns.

He reiterated Uganda's position on the upcoming review of the United Nations Observer Mission in DRC (MONUC) mandate by the United Nations Security Council, saying it should not be renewed unconditionally, but should be conditional to empowering MONUC to disarm the negative groups forcefully.

The two-day meeting will focus on sharing information by the four countries and MONUC on common security threats and creating joint measures of combating such negative forces.

The Tripartite Joint Commission is based on the Tripartite Agreement signed by Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC on October 26, 2004 in Kigali under the facilitation of the US government. Burundi joined the Tripartite mechanism this year.

Source: Xinhua