Uganda complains to DR. Congo on rebels

Uganda has complained to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the continued presence on its soil of Ugandan rebels, New Vision reported on Saturday.

Uganda also raised concern about DRC's lack of commitment to engaging rebels of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Garamba National Park and those of Allied Democratic Force (ADF) in Bundiguya forests and Eringeti National Park in the border areas of Ituri region and North Kivu.

The issue of the Ugandan rebels was high on the agenda in the two-day bilateral security meeting that ended in Kampala last week.

Army spokesman Maj. Felix Kulayigye said the meeting was a follow-up of an earlier one in Kinshasa, during which it was resolved that the presence of the foreign armed groups on DRC soil would affect the general elections due on July 30.

He said Uganda expressed concern that contrary to what was agreed upon in Kinshasa, the Congolese army did not militarily move against the Ugandan rebels on its soil.

The DRC has turned down the Uganda's request of allowing its troops to pursue LRA rebels in Garamba National Park, a proposal failed to win the UN's support as well.

The Ugandan government has started the peace talks with the LRA in Juba, southern Sudan in a bid to end one of Africa's longest conflicts that has left tens of thousands of people dead and more than 1.4 million homeless in northern Ugandan.

Source: Xinhua