Uganda Resumes Congo Pullout

KAMPALA- Uganda will begin pulling out 750 troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, the last of two battalions to be withdrawn in response to peace overtures from new Congolese President Joseph Kabila. The troops will be flown out of Gemena in northern Congo. The withdrawal is expected to take a week due to a shortage of aircraft, said army spokesman Phinehas Katirima. Both Uganda and Rwanda support Congolese rebel factions which have fought since 1998 to topple former Congolese President Laurent Kabila, who was backed by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. Uganda began pulling out the two battalions, or 1,600 men, in February after Joseph Kabila took over from his father who was assassinated in January. The younger Kabila has made concessions to get the peace process back on track, accepting former Botswana president Sir Ketumile Masire as mediator in a planned inter-Congolese dialogue and clearing the way for U.N. observers to monitor a ceasefire. Katirima said Thursday's withdrawal was "a continuation of our response to peace overtures by president Kabila". Uganda withdrew about 3,500 troops from northeastern Congo last August after heavy artillery clashes with their former Rwandan allies. Ends