Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has warned that Uganda would pursue the Lord's Resistance Army ( LRA) rebels into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) if attacked, a state-owned newspaper reported Sunday.

"If they (LRA) attack any part of Uganda we shall follow them into Congo with or without approval," Museveni said in an interview with Sunday Vision.

He insisted that Uganda had a right to self-defense under international law.

Following intensified pressure from the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF), the rebels have left their bases in southern Sudan for Garamba National Park in northeastern DRC.

The Ugandan military has been put on high alert since LRA's fugitive leader Joseph Kony joined his deputy Vincent Otti in DRC last week, after the DRC authorities and the UN agencies were briefed by Uganda.

Ugandan army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said earlier last week the Ugandan government might ask the DRC to allow the UPDF to enter the country and fight the rebels.

Uganda's strong will of cracking down the LRA rebels was echoed by the United States last week when the Director for African Affairs of the U.S. National Security Council Cindy Courville reassured her support in the case.

While meeting a group of visiting women journalists from Africa Thursday, Courville said the Bush administration was working tirelessly to find the best way to fight LRA, declared by the U.S. a terrorist organization.

She said the U.S. has assisted the country to train the army in anti-terrorism, but also called for patience by saying the solution couldn't be found as fast as the people want it.

Source: Xinhua