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Ugandan official suggests "neutral" troops replace its forces in Congo

Country Map - DRC (Bunia) IRIN
This most recent round of armed hostilities followed the weekend theft and destruction of some 300,000 doses of various vaccines
    NAIROBI

    A Ugandan official has proposed that a protection force from a neutral country such as Egypt, Ethiopia or Morocco be sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after the withdrawal of Ugandan troops is complete, The New Vision Ugandan government-owned newspaper reported on Thursday.

    The daily quoted Ugandan Minister of State for International Affairs Tom Butime as having said this while meeting visiting Danish MPs on Wednesday. "We are looking to the withdrawal of Uganda's troops any time. We wouldn't want to stay any longer because we have suffered enough," he added.

    Butime said Uganda had wanted its troops withdrawn by 15 December 2002, but that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had asked that the Uganda People's Defence Forces remain until there was another force to take over the security of the country. Uganda maintains an army battalion in the northeastern town of Bunia and some troops on the Rwenzori mountain slopes.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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