By John Stephen Katende

5^th Nov 2012:

ICT Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda will today meet United Nations officials to express Uganda’s “displeasure” over the leaked UN Panel of Experts report that accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels in Congo led my Gen. Bosco Ntaganda.

In an interview with Voice of America, the Executive Director of Uganda Media Centre Mr Fred Opolot said “Uganda is extremely cautious that it gets a consensus on the views [of Security Council members] as regards the outrageous allegations made by the group of experts that Uganda was involved in the DRC conflict.”

Opolot said after the meeting with the Security Council, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda will return to Uganda [while] other meetings will take place before a decision is taken.  He said Uganda will certainly re-evaluate its commitment to provide troops to peacekeeping efforts in Africa.

Uganda has threatened to pull its troops from African peacekeeping missions, including the one in Somalia, because of the controversial U.N. report. 

Opolot however insisted that the Kampala regime still enjoys warm diplomatic relations with Kinshasa despite the report, which accused Uganda of supporting DRC-based rebels.

“The relationships between Uganda and the DRC are normal and Uganda is interested in the peaceful resolution of the conflict in the DRC,” Opolot said.  “We have certainly engaged the [President Joseph] Kabila government to ensure that he expressly comes out with a clear position on the UN report. But as of now, he has not overtly condemned Uganda.”

In the VOA report, Somali’s Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid is said to have expressed fear that his country’s stability could be threatened if Uganda pulls out of Somalia.  END:  Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates

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