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In the wake of a UN Security Council statement warning neighbouring countries to stay out of the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Ugandan government asked the African Union (AU) on Thursday to investigate the recent fighting and reassured the UN that Kampala had no intention of meddling.
"At the request of the UN, Uganda pulled her troops from DRC. We, therefore, have no intention or interest to re-enter the Congo," Nsimye Sebutulo, Uganda's regional cooperation minister, said.
He said the AU Peace and Security Council should "quickly investigate" the cause of the current tension between the central government in Kinshasa and dissident Congolese troops.
"We need to study the problem and understand it, then the regional bodies like the AU can intervene very quickly," he said, proposing that the problem be put on the agenda of upcoming African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
He told IRIN Uganda would guard its border to prevent what he termed "rebel infiltrations". However, he said the border would remain open to refugees if a humanitarian crisis developed.
Fighting broke out in eastern Congo on 26 May between dissident forces and loyalist government troops. The dissident, led by Gen Laurent Nkunda and Col. Jules Mutebutsi, said they were fighting to protect the minority Congolese Tutsi, known as Banyamulenge, from atrocities allegedly committed by a military commander assigned to the region by the transitional government in Kinshasa.
In a statement released Wednesday, the UN Security Council told Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda not to interfere in the DRC, calling for restraint from all sides and for regional leaders "to work together to reduce tensions and restore confidence in the region".
The Congolese government was asked to "reverse the current climate of impunity" by investigating grave human rights abuses and holding the perpetrators accountable.
"Any attempt to disrupt the peace and transition process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including through support for armed groups, will not be tolerated," the council said.
Rwanda and Uganda sent soldiers into the DRC in 1998 to protect their borders from attacks by rebels they said were based in the east of that country, but the erstwhile allies ended up backing different rebel factions in their fight against the Kinshasa government. The war ended in 2003 when President Joseph Kabila set up a transitional government.
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
