[allAfrica.com] [stanbic.com] Uganda Warms Up to Congo, As Rwanda Beats Drums of War The East African (Nairobi) NEWS December 13, 2004 Posted to the web December 14, 2004 By Wairagala Wakabi Nairobi UGANDA'S Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi and Army Commander Maj Gen Aronda Nyakairima on December 2 made a quiet visit to Kinshasa for talks with Congolese president Joseph Kabila and army officials aimed at strengthening the defence relations between the two countries. "I went to Congo as an envoy of President Yoweri Museveni. I met President Joseph Kabila and we discussed matters of mutual interest, particularly concerning regional security," Mr Mbabazi told The EastAfrican last Friday. He said the mission was well received in Kinshasa and that he brought back a message to President Museveni from President Kabila, but declined to divulge details of the talks he held in Kinshasa. The Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) mid this year trained some members of the Congolese presidential guard following a June 2004 attempted coup against President Kabila. The training, according to Ugandan military sources, was to strengthen the guard and to build warmer relations between Kampala and Kinshasa. The two governments clashed in 1998 when the UPDF supported rebels opposed to the Congolese government. Observers said Uganda's latest rapprochement with Congo could cause some ripples in the region, coming at a time when Congo is fortifying its eastern border against a perceived Rwandan invasion in the making. They said the move could particularly be of concern to Kigali given the latest spate of bad blood between Uganda and Rwanda, which expelled each other's diplomats at the end of November. Congolese officials reportedly told the Ugandan delegation that the new security challenges in the east of their country necessitated speeding up the training of Congo's troops. Armed Rwandan dissident groups made up primarily of the former Rwanda Armed Forces (FAR) and the Interahamwe militia are reportedly mobilising to attack Rwanda, a development that has forced Kigali to threaten to unilaterally send its troops to Congo to fight the insurgents. It was not clear whether Kigali has already sent its troops into Congo, though last week fighting was reported in a number of areas in eastern Congo. Sources told The EastAfrican that the Ugandan team told Kinshasa that the UPDF was ready to train Congolese soldiers to help the country strengthen its national army. The two countries had agreed under the Luanda Agreement over a year ago that Uganda will help train the Congolese army, but the training is yet to happen. Maj Shaban Bantariza, the UPDF spokesman, said Uganda had not yet started training the Congolese soldiers because, "The UN is the one mandated to train them in order to boost their capacity. But we are willing and prepared to train them. If Congo says it is ready for the training, we shall give them the instructors and take it from there," said Maj Bantariza. Mr Mbabazi said last Friday that Uganda was "more than willing" to help train the Congolese army. But he said Uganda's dealings with Congo, including the Luanda Agreement, were being conducted in cognisance of the Tripartite Mechanism agreed between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda in September at the behest of the US government. Maj Bantariza said he did not know what Mr Mbabazi's mission in Congo was. "He has not told me about their mission. Normally I don't prompt him to tell me about missions," he said. He added, however that since the UN observer mission in Congo (Monuc) is monitoring the Congolese side of the border, if the Uganda and Congo armies hold joint patrols they might end up duplicating the UN group's work. Ministry of Defence officials who spoke to The EastAfrican said Uganda hoped that if the Congolese army was strengthened it would make it hard for anti- Museveni groups based in eastern DRC to operate. Uganda says two dissident groups - the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and the People's Redemption Army (PRA) - are based in eastern Congo, where they allegedly have training camps. Kampala is also eager to keep at bay Thomas Lubanga's Union of Patriotic Congolese (UPC), the Congolese group once on Uganda's side but which earlier last year switched alliance to Kigali and fought running battles with the UPDF around Bunia. There are fears that without effective government control in eastern Congo, the groups opposed to Kampala could ally with the UPC and launch attacks on Uganda. Uganda has taken a critical stance to reports that Rwanda is unilaterally sending troops to eastern Congo, with the Minister of State for International Co-operation, Augustine Nshimye, suggesting that Kampala might support United Nations sanctions against Kigali which were mooted by Congo. Kampala says the Tripartite Mechanism should be used to address the current stand-off. Maj Bantariza said the UPDF has done precautionary deployment along the Uganda- Congo border, particularly at points where "enemy forces" might sneak into Uganda. Just a week ago, the UPDF clashed with an unidentified armed group at the Bunagana border post linking Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, killing two of them. Maj Bantariza said they are not sure about the identity of the group, but other UPDF sources suspected it was members of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) trying to sneak into north-eastern Congo. Rwanda has denied the allegation. Ugandan officials also said President Museveni has cautioned his Rwandan counterpart, President Paul Kagame, not to send the RDF back into Congo. But Rwanda has accused Uganda of instigating a propaganda campaign against Kigali. In the event, President Kagame's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region Dr Richard Sezibera, delivered a letter from Kagame to President Museveni, with whom he said he discussed threats that "genocidal forces in Congo" pose to the region. Dr Sezibera said President Museveni appreciated Rwanda's concerns and there was a common agreement that the ex-FAR and Interahamwe militia posed a security threat to the region. Meanwhile, sources said, during a meeting in Kigali last month between Ugandan and Rwandan security officials, Rwanda said it was concerned at the high number of its nationals who were formerly living in Tanzania but had moved to Uganda in recent months. Rwanda said it wanted those refugees to be accounted for and to be asked to return to Rwanda, to guard against their being recruited by dissident groups opposed to President Kagame. Last week, Christine Among Aporu, Uganda's Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, said following a meeting between the two countries' officials, Uganda will repatriate more than 6,000 Rwandans who crossed into Uganda after being expelled from Tanzania. She said these Rwandans did not have legal status in Uganda, and that they posed a security threat to both Uganda and Rwanda. Kampala was in contact with Rwanda's Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission to identify and reintegrate ex-militias and ex-combatants who may be in this group, she said. Ms Aporu said of the 2,207 Rwandans repatriated since last year, 359 had since reported back to Uganda, giving various claims why they had not been reintegrated at home. Monuc said, meanwhile that it had taken steps to stop Rwandan troops from entering Congo, and that a further 6,000 UN troops would soon arrive in the country to be deployed in South and North Kivu.   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2004 The East African. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================