Uganda Backs US Air Strikes

By Richard Mutumba UGANDA yesterday said it supported air strikes launched on Sunday by the United States and Britain against targets of Saudi-born militant, Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. The third deputy premier and foreign affairs minister, James Wapakhabulo, said Uganda had been privileged to have information gathered by the Americans. “We are convinced that Osama bin Laden was involved in last month’s attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon,” he added. “We therefore support any measure the Americans take against terrorism, provided the method used does not harm innocent civilians,” Wapakhabulo said. He said Uganda was not physically involved in the military campaign by the US against Afghanistan. “Ours is a different approach. We have been a victim of terrorism in northern and south western Uganda committed by the ADF trained in the Sudan and Afghanistan. “The international community did not understand our problem, but we have been able to go through this. We therefore support any effort against terrorism,” he said. United States President George W. Bush said Afghanistan’s radical Islamic rulers were about to “pay a price” for supporting terrorism. The news of the attack was received in Uganda with mixed feelings. While some supported it others said it was wrong. “This is double standards by the US. Why can’t they attack Israelis for killing the Palestinians,” James Male, a businessman, said. A Kampala taxi driver, Hussein Bugo, said the US was aiming at a wrong target. “The problem is not Afghanistan but dominance by the US,” he said. Ends