[allAfrica.com]  [Africa_2005]


AU Consults Ahead of DRC Deployment

New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
November 30, 2005
Posted to the web November 30, 2005

By Emmy Allio
Kampala
An African Union (AU) delegation is in Uganda to consult the UPDF and security
chiefs ahead of AU's planned deployment in northeastern Congo.
Defence minister Amama Mbabazi on Monday said the reconnaissance mission is to
pave way for eventual deployment of an AU force that will forcefully disarm
dissident groups in eastern Congo.
Mbabazi was addressing a meeting of AU military officers and senior UPDF
officers at Hotel Africana, Kampala on Monday.
The 26-member delegation has already visited Rwanda and Congo.
He said the mission is here to gather experiences from the region and
information on the common security threats.
AU wants to disarm negative forces in Congo who include the Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Burundian Hutu rebels (FNL), the Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA), People's Redemption Army, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and
the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU).
A statement from the acting UPDF spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulaigye, said the
mission is interested in obtaining information from Uganda on the situation in
Kivu region, the operations of the Congolese army (FARDC) and the proposed AU
role.
Kulaigye said mission experts are to benefit from the experience of Uganda, as
a country that had sent troops to Congo, a country that faces the threat of
armed groups in eastern Congo and a country that facilitated various UN and
other international operations in Congo.

   

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