Presidents in "meaningful and fruitful discussions"

The Rwandan and Ugandan presidents, Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni, had "meaningful and fruitful discussions" in Uganda on Thursday, during a meeting to reduce tension between the two countries, Kagame said at a press conference afterwards. Held at Gatuna and Kabale in Uganda, the talks were brokered by British Development Minister, Clare Short, and were the fifth in a year aimed at mending relations between the two countries following clashes between their respective armies in Kisangani, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in 1999 and 2000. The Rwandan and Ugandan defence and finance ministers were also present at the meeting. In a joint communique issued by the presidents afterwards, they said the progress that had now been made had "led to a significant reduction in tension between their two countries". They reconfirmed their commitment to "full, normal relations" between the two countries, and to their "goal of frank and open discussion of all areas of common interest or potential concern", while emphasising their desire to resolve misunderstandings through bilateral channels as opposed to public statements or press articles. The communique stressed the shared goal of discouraging dissidents from seeking havens in each other's countries, and to urgently resolve any outstanding cases. They also agreed to establish a permanent bilateral commission for developing economic and other ties, and to draw up a mutual extradition treaty. Tension between the two countries remained high throughout 2001, with accusations being traded in October 2001 that each was harbouring rebels and dissidents intent on overthrowing the other's government. Following a meeting in London in November 2001, a Joint Verification and Investigation Committee (JVIC) was set up to investigate the accusations and thereby defuse the crisis. "After receiving reports from the verification team, which did not implicate any country, we have agreed in principle to remove the barriers like allowing either soldiers to cross the border, but to continue negotiating until all suspicions are removed," the Ugandan defence minister, Amama Mbabazi, was quoted as saying after the meeting by the Ugandan independent newspaper the Monitor. Asked, during a joint press conference after the meeting, whether the issues in Kisangani which had brought the two countries to the brink of war had been resolved, Museveni said: "Well, we have solved it by dealing with the matter the way we have dealt with it, by resolving the present problems. But we have not gone back to Kisangani. Because that is one way of solving it - forgetting about it." Short added that solving Kisangani was solving the conflict in the DRC as a whole, and that the most important thing for both Uganda and Rwanda was getting the situation in the DRC resolved. "That is how we have decided to do it," she said. However, the International Crisis Group (ICG), sent out a warning in its most recent report on Rwanda and Uganda, issued in December: "There are signs that the dispute will not be solved by the verification of military positions or impromptu visits to alleged training sites. Personal rivalry - not only between the two presidents – and regional political leaderships in east and central Africa are involved." "Half a dozen determined military figures on both sides have the capacity to take their countries at least to the brink, and are under very little control by civilian institutions," the ICG warned. [For full ICG report entitled "Rwanda/Uganda: A Dangerous War of Nerves" see: www.crisisweb.org]