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Uganda: Museveni Meets Kabila Over Border Dispute
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The Monitor (Kampala)
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Emmanuel Gyezaho
Kampala
President Yoweri Museveni met Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila in Dar-es-Salaam yesterday for crisis talks that aimed largely at resolving a new border dispute.
For several hours, the two leaders were reportedly locked behind closed doors, with Tanzanian leader Jakaya Kikwete mediating. Mr Museveni's press office said the talks evolved "on issues concerning the Great Lakes' Region as well as other issues affecting their respective countries."
"President Yoweri Museveni and his Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) counterpart Mr. Joseph Kabila, now in Tanzania on a one-day working visit, have this morning [Sunday] begun a closed meeting at State House, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania," the statement from the President's press office said.
It is understood that the meeting was convened to restore relations between Uganda and the DRC which have worsened since early this month following the occupation by the Congolese army of a disputed border area in West Nile, and the moving of its border post 4km towards Uganda.
Uganda and Congo are locked in a bitter dispute over a common border at Vuura, in the Aru Territory. Analysts have also argued that Kinshasha's recent decision to cancel an exploration contract with Tullow Oil, a company operating on the Ugandan side of the border, also prompted the Museveni-Kabila meeting, with agreements on joint oil exploration in the Lake Albert basin, now on the line.
The latest border incident comes less than a year after Congolese troops attacked an oil barge belonging to a Canadian firm, Heritage Oil, near the contested island of Rukwanzi, on Lake Albert, killing an expatriate.
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However, in holding face to face talks with Mr Kabila, Mr Museveni's action reflects a conviction that a less-than-diplomatic solution would not help Kampala's interests.
With the possibility of renewed hostilities between the Ugandan military and the Lord's Resistance Army following the breakdown of the Juba peace talks, Uganda cannot afford to worsen relations with the DRC, a country in whose remote jungles rebel leader Joseph Kony has found a safe haven.
The meeting also comes as a follow-up of an agreement the two countries signed in the mountain resort of Ngurdoto, Tanzania on September 8, 2007, that established a joint commission to verify and define a common border. Close to a year on, the Commission has been sluggish in carrying out its work, only stepping up the tempo after the border dispute on May 2.
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