BRITAIN CAUTIONS RWANDA ON ITURI

By Felix Osike and Agencies
BRITAIN has urged Rwanda to refrain from actions that might aggravate the standoff with Uganda in the Ituri region in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We urge the Government of Rwanda, in line with its statement of March 14, to refrain from any action that would aggravate the situation in Ituri,” said a British government statement received by AFP on Friday.
Rwanda on Friday threatened to send troops back to the DR Congo, more than five months after it withdrew them, if the United Nations fails to obtain “the complete and immediate withdrawal” of all Ugandan forces from the DRC.
The statement said it “strongly supports” the statement made on March 10 by the president of the UN Security Council calling for the complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from the DRC and “calling on Uganda to abide by its commitment to withdraw its forces by March 20.”
In Kinshasa, foreign minister Leonard She Okitundu described Friday’s warning from the Kigali government as “a manoeuvre aimed at legitimising a Rwandan presence in our country.”
Defence minister Amama Mbabazi on Saturday warned Rwanda against waging a proxy and propaganda war. He said Uganda would mobilise all its available means to defend herself in case of an attack by Rwanda.


Britain said it was concerned about the insecurity in Ituri region and increasing tension between Uganda and Rwanda.
“Her Majesty’s Government is gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Ituri, and increased tension between the Congolese parties to the conflict, and Uganda and Rwanda”, the statement said.
“This threatens the peace and security of the Great Lakes region. Following recent progress on implementation of the Global and Inclusive Agreement for a transitional national government in the DRC, it is important that all parties exercise restraint in relation to Ituri,” it said.
But army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza said, “They cannot be more concerned than we are. We are the ones who are more threatened than Britain.”
He said the British Minister for International Development Clare Short has been handling the issue of strained relations. “What has she told them? Are they aware of the Luanda and Dar es Salaam agreements between Presidents Museveni and Joseph Kabila? Are they aware of the formation of the Ituri Pacification Commission? he wondered.
Meanwhile, the Kinshasa government official in charge of the peace process, Vital Kamerhe, announced Saturday that Ugandan troops will leave Bunia by April 24. “On April 24, the Ugandan troops - a battalion of some 2,000 men - should be totally withdrawn from Bunia,” the main town in the troubled Ituri province, Kamerhe told a press conference. Ends