Clashing troops to withdraw

Uganda and Rwanda on Monday agreed to withdraw their forces deployed in and around the city of Kisangani, to a distance to be agreed upon by the two countries, according a press statement released by Kivengere. The agreement followed a meeting in Kampala between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and a UN Security Council delegation led by US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke, in which Rwandan President Paul Kagame participated by telephone. The governments of Uganda and Rwanda, and the Security Council delegation recommended that the UN Observer Mission in the DRC (MONUC) should deploy forces in Kisangani “at the earliest possible opportunity” in order to “exercise control over the demilitarised zone around the city and its airports once the parties concerned have withdrawn,” the Ugandan statement said.