Presidents Kagame, Museveni meet in London

Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni began talks on Thursday in London, aimed at easing tension between the two countries. In an interview with the BBC World Service, the British secretary of state for international development, Clare Short, said the Thursday talks were the fourth since tension between Rwanda and Uganda mounted after fighting two years ago in Kisangani, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Short said Britain’s mediation in the talks was aimed at diffusing tension between the two countries and bringing about a long-term settlement in the Congo that would benefit the people of Burundi, the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. On 17 October 2002, Short hosted a meeting between Kagame and Museveni at Lancaster House in London. At the meeting, which focused on bilateral relations between the two countries and security concerns in the region, both presidents condemned renewed fighting in the Congo and called on all parties to adhere to a ceasefire deal provided for by a disengagement plan to which they had agreed earlier. The Thursday meeting between Kagame and Museveni comes at a critical stage for the peace process in the DRC, where a national transitional government is due to be sworn in later in May.