Probe commission threatens army chief with arrest

The commission set up by Uganda to investigate allegations of the nation's involvement in the illegal exploitation of natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) threatened on Monday to have Ugandan army commander Maj-Gen James Kazini arrested for failure to appear for testimony, The New Vision newspaper reported on Tuesday. The Uganda government-owned daily reported that the six-member Ugandan judicial commission, chaired by the expatriate British judge, David Porter, rejected Kazini's letter of apology for failing to appear, and ordered him to do so on 20 May, or face arrest. The commission wants Kazini to testify regarding United Nations allegations that he plundered resources of the DRC when he was commanding the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) troops there. Kazini, who has failed to appear before the commission several times, sent lawyers on Monday to apologise for his absences "because of circumstances beyond his control", and assured the commission that he would be ready to appear between 20 and 30 May, The New Vision reported. The Ugandan commission was established in May 2001 in response to a report from a UN panel of experts, who alleged that while the UPDF may have first entered the DRC in August 1998 for reasons of insecurity along Uganda's western border, it took advantage of its status as the de facto authority throughout northern and eastern DRC to profit financially from the pillage of Congo's rich natural resources, including timber, diamonds and gold. According to The New Vision, Porter said further delay would force the commission to seek an extension of its term at huge expense just to hear Kazini's testimony. The commission is scheduled to complete its investigation by 31 May.