Uganda threatens to enter DRC

Apr 01, 2007

Uganda is threatening to send troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to uproot the rebels using eastern Congo as a sanctuary and base to raid Uganda.

By Emmy Allio

Uganda is threatening to send troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to uproot the rebels using eastern Congo as a sanctuary and base to raid Uganda.

“The people of Uganda must be re-assured that the government will not allow its territory and people to be attacked by these terrorists. We reserve the right to self-defence, inclu-ding pursuing terrorists to their points of origin,” defence minister Crispus kiyonga told a press conference on Saturday.

In the company of the Land Forces Commander, Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala, the minister named the negative forces operating in eastern Congo as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) and the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU).

The warning comes a few days after the UPDF battled ADF rebels in the Semliki river area in Bundibugyo district.

With the discovery of 14 more bodies, the ADF death toll has risen to 43. Five others were captured. On the UPDF side, two soldiers were killed and four wounded.

“I want to appeal to the government of the DRC and the UN forces in Congo to deal with this situation by implementing agreed positions that we discussed at different levels several times,” the minister added.

NEGATIVE FORCES
Uganda is proposing joint military and political action by the governments in the region to solve the issue of negative forces.

“The government believes that the presence of negative forces on the soil of DRC is a matter that requires regional cooperation,”
Kiyonga asserted.

The Lusaka Peace agreement lists the ADF, NALU, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as negative forces that are supposed to be disarmed by a joint force of the African Union, the UN and regional states.

Under the agreement, the UN Observer Mission in Congo, MONUC, and the Congolese army have a duty to either induce the negative forces to surrender and disarm, or to forcibly disarm them.

The issue has also been discussed at the Tripartite-Plus commission, composed Great Lakes region countries – Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo – where the US and MONUC are observers.

The commission aims at enhancing cooperation in the region through the exchange of intelligence information and the creation of a forum to address common security concerns. In their recent meeting in Kigali, they exchanged lists of most wanted persons living in each other’s countries.

Despite these initiatives, Uganda and Rwanda appear to be dissatisfied. The issue of the negative forces, as well as humanitarian concerns over claims of genocide in eastern Congo, prompted the two countries to send troops to the DRC in 1997.

“Uganda has been discussing the subject of the negatives forces in eastern Congo with the UN, the DRC and its development partners. Commitments to deal with these terrorists have been made but as far as we are concerned, no tangible action followed,” Kiyonga said.

ADF’S ORIGIN
One of those listed by Uganda as most wanted was Bosco Balau Isiko. He ranked fourth in the hierarchy of the ADF rebels and was killed last week in Bundibugyo. The top three ADF leaders, are still at large and operating from Congo. Kiyonga estimates that the ADF rebels number about 500. Their safe haven is Eringety game reserves and Bundiguya forests, a mountainous and sparsely populated zone located between Beni and Bunia districts in northeastern Congo.

ADF began as the Bantu-wing of the West Nile Bank Front. The latter was decimated in 1997 in the battles of Kaya, Morobo and Yei. In May 1996, the ADF moved southwards through Congo’s border towns of Bazi, Ariwara, Aru, Bunia to Beni zone where they linked up with NALU, founded by a former minister of Obote, and some other groups.

The main boost for ADF and NALU was the Defence Pact, signed in 1993 between former Zairean leader Mobutu and president Omar Bashir of Sudan.

ADF’s methods of operation are not different from the LRA. Both abduct civilians to swell their numbers. Both target civilians. Both are classified as terrorist organisations by the US and Britain. And both groups had ties with al-Qaeda in the period 1993-96, the years Osama bin Laden lived in Sudan. In addition, ADF was also responsible for bombs attacks in central Kampala that killed several dozen people in 1999 and 2000.

In an interview with The New Vision, the late ADF chief of staff, Chris Tushabe alias Benz, said their supreme leader, jamil Mukulu, was train-ed in urban terrorism by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

ADF rebels were dealt a blow when the UPDF invaded Congo. Their apparent resurrection coincides with the re-entry of the LRA into Congo’s Garamba National Park.

It also follows two days of clashes in Kinshasa bet-ween government troops and forces of former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, which left up to 600 people dead. Bemba used to be supported by Uganda. Some see the recent events as a move to seal the border and stop possible ren-ewed support to Bemba.

Kinshasa has issued a warrant of arrest for high treason against Bemba. The opposition leader, who is still hiding in the South African embassy, was expected to fly to Portugal over the weekend for medical attention but the Congolese authorities have not yet approved his travel.

Last weekend, MONUC called on Kinshasa to engage in democratic dialogue with opposition and civil society. MONUC insisted on respect for the constitutional framework and emphasised the role of the political opposition.

Unless Kinshasa eases its grip on the opposition and acts on the negative forces, the fragile peace in the region might be at risk.

Additional reporting by Geresom Musamali and Bizimungu Kisakye

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