President warns rivals over "war plans"

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has warned three of his political rivals to abandon their plans to make war against Uganda. He told former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye and two former Ugandan army officers, Samson Mande and Anthony Kyakabale, that they should abandon their plans before "they have crossed the bridge of shedding blood", 'The New Vision' goverment-owned newspaper reported on Wednesday. According to 'The New Vision', Mande and Kyakabale recently fled to Rwanda, from where they declared war on Museveni's government. Besigye, who has accused Museveni of rigging the March presidential elections in which Besigye was beaten into second place, fled Uganda last month for the US and is now in London. He told IRIN in an interview last month that "if the [Ugandan] government leaves no option open for peaceful means [of change]... then I will not have the option of avoiding the regrettable and disruptive means of using force". 'The New Vision' said Museveni knew that Mande and Kyakabale were trying to use Rwanda as their base to rebel against Uganda, and that he planned to tackle the situation diplomatically with Rwandan President Paul Kagame.