Planned troop withdrawal on course

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday criticised Ugandan and Rwandan officials who make “inflammatory comments” about the situation in Kisangani, news agencies reported. “Both sides have shown a lack of restraint in their statements,” Museveni told reporters. Under the Kisangani demilitarisation plan agreed upon by Uganda and Rwanda, which is to come into effect on Thursday, both countries agreed to stop “hostile propaganda or inflammatory attacks”. Meanwhile, the planned withdrawal of foreign troops from Kisangani was on course, Ugandan army spokesman Major Phineas Katirima said on Wednesday.

“Nothing has changed, the process of withdrawal starts with briefing the troops ... the actual withdrawal will start with the Bangoka and Sim-Sim airports, followed by the withdrawal from the city centre and Kapalata camp”, he told IRIN. The RCD, which signed a separate agreement on Monday to redeploy its troops 100 km from Kisangani, said in a statement received by IRIN on Wednesday that it would maintain a “logistical base” in the city in conformity with article 3 of the Lusaka accord, which allows for the supplying of food, clothing and medical support to military forces in the field.