Ugandan minister meets Kabila

Ugandan Foreign Minister and deputy Prime Minister Eriya Kategaya, who arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday, has met President Joseph Kabila to discuss the situation in the Great Lakes region. In an interview with DRC state television, he said he was carrying a message of peace from President Yoweri Museveni. He added that Uganda wanted to participate in regional discussions aimed at restoring peace and security to the DRC and the Great Lakes. He described his visit as an "opportunity to discuss the process that can lead us to peace". Asked when Uganda would pull its forces out of the DRC, he reiterated that the troops originally went in to quell attacks by the Congolese-based Ugandan rebel movement, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). "We believe we have attained this objective because we have broken the ADF's back," he said. "We can pull out now, but when we leave what kind of DRC will we be leaving behind? Are the conditions that brought us to the DRC initially still the same? So we have to discuss issues concerning the region." Kategaya's visit is significant as Uganda has been supporting rebels in the war against the Kinshasa authorities. The semi-official Ugandan 'New Vision' daily on Wednesday noted it was the highest-level government delegation to visit Kinshasa since 1998.