Museveni, Kagame Meet

Feb 14, 2002

PRESIDENTS Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame of Rwanda met yesterday and reviewed progress on the implementation of the agreements they made in London on November 6, 2001 and agreed to reduce tension between their neighbouring states.

By Hamis Kaheru and D. MagaraPRESIDENTS Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame of Rwanda met yesterday and reviewed progress on the implementation of the agreements they made in London on November 6, 2001 and agreed to reduce tension between their neighbouring states.The two leaders met under moderation by British development minister, Clare short. They received reports from Uganda’s and Rwanda’s defence ministers, amama Mbabazi and Emmanuel Habyarimana in Kigali on February 10 and on the follow-up meeting of the Joint Verification and Investigation Committee (JVIC) in Katuna on Wednesday.They commended the work of the JVIC and agreed to hold another review meeting in six months.Mbabazi and Habyarimana agreed to nominate military attaches in each country, exchange liaison officers in border areas and maintain regular contacts between their chiefs of military intelligence.A communique issued at the end of the presidents’ meeting said, “The two presidents reconfirmed their commitment to full, normal relations between Uganda and Rwanda, and to the goal of frank and open discussion of all areas of common interest or potential concern.”“They stressed their shared goal of discouraging dissidents from seeking haven in each others’ countries, and to urgently resolve all outstanding cases. The presidents also noted that a draft extradition treaty between their two countries was under consideration, and tasked officials to reach early agreement,” the statement said.The presidents also “agreed to reconstitute and energise the bilateral Permanent Joint Commission to enable it to be a driving force in the development of economic, transport and other links between their countries with a view to a meeting of the reconstituted Commission by the end of April”, the statement said.The presidents reconfirmed their commitment to the free movement of people between their countries.They also reconfirmed their commitment to regional stability and to the full implementation of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement on the DRC and Arusha Accord on Burundi.Museveni and Kagame drove in one car from Katuna border post to White Horse Inn in Kabale to continue the meeting after it was disrupted by a heavy down pour in which their tent was almost blown away by wind.Museveni, Kagame and Short stood up abruptly when the white big tent was lifted off the ground by the wind. The meeting had gone on for about 30 minutes. The two presidents sat behind Museveni’s cross-country Benz while Short occupied the co-driver’s seat. Kagame’s car followed as his bodyguards rushed to pick his uniformed escorts across the border.Ends

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