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Dow Jones Newswires.DJ Uganda, Congo Plan New Strategies To Curb Cross Border Insurgency
20 Sep 2010 - 09:20
KAMPALA, Uganda -(Dow Jones)- The Ugandan and Congolese governments are discussing new plans aimed at curbing insurgency along their common border in a bid to create an environment to promote investments and trade, officials said Monday.

Crispus Kiyonga, Uganda's defense minister, said a delegation of Congolese government officials, led by Congo's defense and veterans' minister, Charles Mwando were in Kampala over the weekend to discuss the security situation along the border as well as the presence of Ugandan rebels who continue to create insecurity in the volatile Eastern Congo.

"We held talks on Saturday where we considered a range of plans to annihilate negative elements in both countries," he said.

In the past two years, Uganda has been conducting a joint offensive with Congo's United Nations-backed army against dissidents of the Lord's Resistance Army in north-eastern Congo.

In July, the Congolese army also launched an offensive against the Allied Democratic Forces which have bases in Eastern Congo. In 2007, the ADF infiltrated Uganda's oil region, before being repulsed by the Ugandan army. They have since been operating in North Kivu, which is Congo's largest tin producing province.

Ugandan military officials say that some of the new strategies include greater co-operation in the sharing of intelligence and mobilization of logistics. The two countries also want to end illegal cross border mineral dealings, which are believed to be the main source of funding for rebel militias.

After the talks, the two sides issued a joint communique, pledging to support each other to curb insurgency.

Extensive oil exploration on the Ugandan side of the Lake Albert Valley has been going on for the past four years, leading to the discovery of at least a billion barrels of oil, by U.K.'s Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) and Heritage Oil PLC (HOIL.LN). However, similar activities on the Congolese side have been delayed, mainly due to insecurity.

-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256-70-2624615 [email protected]


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2010 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT)