Uganda says will withdraw from Congo by March 20
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuters) - Uganda and Congo agreed Monday that all Ugandan troops would withdraw from northeastern Congo by March 20 and that the two sides would set up a committee to try and pacify the troubled region.
After a two-day meeting in the Tanzanian capital, Congolese President Joseph Kabila and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni said an estimated 2,000 Ugandan troops still in the Ituri region, near Uganda's border, would pull out next month.
Uganda invaded Congo in 1998, along with Rwanda, to back rebels fighting the government, but has since withdrawn most of its troops. Renewed tensions between armed factions have destabilized Ituri in recent months.
The United Nations has accused Uganda of building up troop levels, two months after a Dec. 15 deadline for withdrawal agreed in Luanda in September.
Monday's agreement -- signed by Uganda's deputy president and both countries' foreign ministers -- was described as an amendment to that Luanda accord.
Dubbed "Africa's World War One," the conflict in Congo has claimed some 2 million lives since 1998 and sucked in other foreign armies including those of Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Most foreign troops have since withdrawn.
Rwanda, seen as one of the biggest players in the conflict, denied U.N. accusations this month that it was building up its troops in the northeast, saying they had all left.
Museveni said peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo could not be expected overnight.
"We will continue working together for peace," he told a news conference. "One has to sweat for any sweet one craves."
Both leaders said the new amended accord would be fruitful and that calming mineral-rich Ituri was a priority.
"The ongoing looting of resources in the DRC by local and foreign elements is secondary," Kabila said. "What we need more than anything else is peace."
Under the new deal, an Ituri Pacification Commission -- with two representatives from each government, two from the U.N. mission in Congo, and four from other groups involved in the region -- would start work on Feb. 17.
The commission would complete its work by March 10. Ugandan withdrawal would be completed 10 days later.
A ministerial meeting will be held in Luanda before Friday to discuss setting up the commission.
02/10/03 12:56 ET
