Uganda to withdraw troops from Somalia

[Somalia]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20187369

 

 

Uganda will withdraw its forces from UN-backed international missions, Security Minister Muruli Mukasa says, escalating a long-running row.

 

Mr Mukasa said he was sending an official to New York to inform the UN of his decision.

 

Operations in Somalia, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo will be affected.

 

The UN infuriated Kampala when it published an experts' report accusing Uganda of arming Congolese rebels.

 

Mr Mukasa told a news conference: "If our efforts are going to be misinterpreted and we are going to be maligned, we want to be in a good relationship with our neighbours.

 

"Let's stop all these initiatives. We will concentrate on ourselves. Whoever wants to cause us trouble, they will find us at our home."

 

Uganda provides the largest contingent to the UN-backed African Union mission in Somalia (Amisom).

 

The Amisom force has helped the Somali government gain ground against Islamist militias.

 

Analysts say a rapid withdrawal of Ugandan troops could threaten those gains.

 

Ugandan troops are deployed in smaller numbers to an international mission to CAR and DR Congo to hunt down the remaining elements of the Lord's Resistance Army and its leader, Joseph Kony.

 

The LRA killed thousands of people and abducted thousands more during a long insurgency that has seen it fight in several countries.

 

The remarks from the security minister echo a statement made in the Ugandan parliament on Thursday by Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.

 

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in Kampala says both the prime minister and the security minister have said the decision is irreversible, but they were speaking in an individual capacity.

 

The foreign or defence ministries have not issued any statement, and neither would give a comment to the BBC.

 

A report by a UN panel of experts last month said Rwanda and Uganda were both supplying weapons to the M23 rebels in the DR Congo. Both countries denied the claims.

 

The rebels' insurrection has forced some 500,000 from their homes since April.

[Somalia]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d08686de-2512-11e2-86fb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2B5i9UTy4

 

 

Uganda will tell the UN it is withdrawing its forces from military operations in Somalia and other regional hotspots after the world body accused it of supporting Congolese rebels, the security minister said on Friday.

Minister Wilson Mukasa said the decision was irreversible and another cabinet minister was travelling to New York to explain its position to the UN.

 

Ugandan troops account for more than a third of the 17,600 UN-mandated African peacekeepers battling al-Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in Somalia and their withdrawal could hand an advantage to al Shabaab.

 

Its soldiers, backed by US special forces, are also leading the hunt for fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic, with some stationed in South Sudan.

 

In a leaked report, a UN panel of experts last month accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the so-called M23 rebel group commanded by Bosco Ntaganda, a warlord indicted by the International Criminal Court nicknamed “the Terminator”.

 

Mr Mukasa said Uganda would withdraw from Somalia, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo to concentrate on domestic security.

 

“We are tired of being maligned even after sacrifices have been made to ensure that our friends, our neighbours are UK. The ‘thank you’ we get is that you are now aiding this, you are this and that, so we are tired,” he told reporters in Kampala.

 

Felix Kulayigye, a Ugandan army spokesman, said the military had received no orders yet but was ready to act when it did. “We’ll not stay an extra day in Somalia when we get that order,” he said.

 

The African force has been vital to propping up a string of interim governments in Somalia and driving al Shabaab militants from all their urban strongholds over the past 15 months, including the capital, Mogadishu, and southern port of Kismayu.

 

A sudden reduction in its numbers, especially in Mogadishu, would risk unravelling the security gains that allowed the first presidential elections in more than 40 years to be held in the capital in September. Somalia’s poorly equipped and ill-disciplined army is more a loose affiliation of rival militias than a cohesive fighting force loyal to a single president.

 

Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the spokesman for al Shabaab’s military operation, said it was unaware of Uganda’s intention to withdraw it would keep fighting the African peacekeepers.

 

“After Ugandans leave, what else, it will be easier to fight the remaining invaders. We shall finish them,” he told Reuters. Uganda has earned significant western support for deploying its soldiers to a war zone few foreign powers outside the region have the stomach for.

 

It also benefits financially for its AMISOM contribution while at the same time a troop presence in Somalia, Central African Republic and South Sudan gives the Ugandan military a big footprint across the region.

 

“It’s just politics and playing to the gallery. They won’t pull out. Things will be quietly settled behind closed doors with perhaps future reports not being so critical,” said Hamza Mohamed, a London-based Somali analyst.

 

The confidential 44-page report by the UN Security Council’s Group of Experts, a body that monitors compliance with the UN sanctions and arms embargo in place for Congo, said M23 has expanded territory under its control, stepped up recruitment of child soldiers and summarily executed recruits and prisoners.

 

The report said Rwandan officials co-ordinated the setting up of the rebel movement as well as its military operations. Uganda’s more subtle support to M23 allowed its political branch to operate from within Kampala.

Uganda and Rwanda have repeatedly denied the accusations.

[Somalia]

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/636994-uganda-to-quit-somalia.html

 

Uganda has resolved to pull out of all regional efforts, including peace keeping missions in Somalia, Central African Republic and DR Congo, over a leaked UN report, which accuses Uganda of supporting Congolese M23 rebels.

 

In a statement to Parliament, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi described the allegations as baseless, unfair and malicious. He said Uganda was acting in good faith and sacrificing a lot to bring peace to the region and deserved better understanding, respect and fairness from the UN and the region.

 

Mbabazi added that some actors in the UN system do not understand that there can be principled actors in Africa, not looking for gold and other minerals, like the imperialists who invaded Africa, did.

 

“We have now decided, after due consultations with our brothers in the AU and the region, to completely withdraw from these regional peace efforts; that is to say DRC, Somalia and others,” Mbabazi said on Thursday night. “It is no longer plausible for Uganda to assist and get malignment as the reward.”

 

“Where is the evidence?” Mbabazi asked. “Is it acceptable that an organ of the UN should falsely and carelessly accuse a member of the UN in this way, using either amateurs or malicious actors dressed up as experts?”

 

According to Mbabazi, Uganda got involved in the M23 conflict after being requested by the UN chief, Ban Ki-Moon, the DR Congo president Joseph Kabila and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.

 

President Yoweri Museveni was asked to facilitate a dialogue between Kinshasa and the rebels. Museveni then convened four summits, three of which were in Kampala, funded by Uganda. The peace effort was supported by both the AU and the UN.

 

Mbabazi added that the report was compiled by a UN group of experts who arrived on September 17 and left the next day. They met Government officials on September 18, but failed to meet the intelligence chiefs, given the short notice.

 

They refused to extend their stay and flew to Goma, from where they summoned Ugandan intelligence chiefs to meet them, which Mbabazi said was improper.

 

Mbabazi said the Government was surprised that issues which came out in the report, were neither discussed in the meeting of September 18 nor cross-checked with Government officials.

 

“It was more surprising that the UN Security Council endorsed the report and pronounced itself on possible sanctions against Uganda without any reference to us,” Mbabazi said.

 

“Uganda categorically denies the allegations against her because they are totally false.”

 

Mbabazi gave two conditions for Uganda to reverse this decision. “The UN must sort out the malignments against Uganda by bringing out the truth about Uganda’s role in the current regional efforts,” he said.

 

“Our African brothers in the region should quickly pronounce themselves on these malignments against Uganda.” Mbabazi said Uganda was making lots of sacrifices in peace efforts in the region and cited the July 11, 2010 al-Shabaab terrorist attack that killed 76 Ugandans. He also cited the assassination of three Muslims in Kampala, which he blamed on ADF rebels based in eastern DRC.

 

He, however, told Parliament that the Government gave assistance to over 600 DRC government soldiers who ran into Uganda for refuge and medical treatment in July and were transported back in UPDF trucks in the presence of the DRC ambassador to Uganda, Charles Lokoto-Lolombe.

 

“At the height of the crisis when nine members of the M23 rebels fled to Uganda for safety, they were arrested in Kisoro and transported through Mbarara and they are under custody in Kampala, pending further management,” Mbabazi revealed.

 

In the statement, Mbabazi accused the DR Congo government of equipping Ugandan rebels.

 

“It is not in order for DRC and MONUSCO to maintain terrorists against Uganda by allowing ADF to freely use DRC territory to train, to receive arms and to launch assassination attacks on Ugandans,” Mbabazi said.

 

He added that Uganda preferred dialogue to resolve the M23 rebel problem and use MONUSCO and a neutral international force to get rid of the terrorists.

 

“Some actors have a different opinion. How long will the Congolese territory continue to be used as a base against its neighbours?” Mbabazi asked.

 

He said because of this, it was inevitable for Uganda to withdraw from Somalia and CAR to “watch the DRC territory donated to the terrorists by the DRC government and the UN”.

 

Reacting to the statement, MPs Jack Sabiti (Rukiga), Winnie Kizza (Kasese Woman) and Dr. Lulume Bayinga (Buyikwe South) expressed fear of a possible war between the two countries.

 

The MPs will discuss the statement next week.

[Somalia]

REUTERS

 

By Elias Biryabarema

 

KAMPALA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Uganda plans to tell the United Nations it will withdraw its forces from military operations in regional hotspots including Somalia, a security minister said on Friday, in response to U.N. allegations it is supporting Congolese rebels.

 

Security Minister Wilson Mukasa described the decision as "irreversible" and said another cabinet minister was travelling to New York to explain its position to the world body.

 

In a leaked report, a U.N. panel of experts last month accused Uganda and Rwanda of supporting the so-called M23 rebel group commanded by Bosco Ntaganda, a warlord indicted by the International Criminal Court nicknamed "the Terminator".

 

"What we've said and what we are proposing to the UN ... is that we are going to withdraw from our engagements in Somalia, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo to concentrate on our own security here in Uganda," Mukasa told reporters in Kampala.

 

Ugandan troops account for more than a third of the more than 17,600 U.N.-mandated African peacekeepers battling al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in Somalia.

 

"I am not aware of any order to withdraw from Somalia but the UPDF is under civilian authority so if an executive decision has been taken to withdraw, that's fine. we'll not stay an extra day in Somalia when we get that order," Felix Kulayigye, spokesman for the Uganda People's Defence Forces, told Reuters.

 

The AMISOM force has been key to propping up a string of interim governments in Somalia and driving al Shabaab militants from all their key urban strongholds over the last 15 months, including the capital, Mogadishu, and southern port of Kismayu.

 

A sudden and sharp reduction in the force's numbers, especially in Mogadishu, would risk unravelling the steady security gains that allowed the first presidential elections in more than four decades to be held in the capital in September.

 

Somalia's poorly equipped and ill disciplined army is more of a loosely affiliated umbrella group of rival militias than a cohesive fighting force loyal to a single president.

 

Ugandan troops backed by U.S. special forces are also leading the hunt for fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic, with some stationed in South Sudan.

 

"I'm sure that's the rhetoric they might use as a threat, but I can't see them pulling out of Somalia," a Somalia-watching Western diplomat told Reuters.

 

Uganda has earned significant Western support for deploying its soldiers to a warzone few foreign powers outside the region have the stomach for.

 

PLAYING TO GALLERY

 

It also benefits financially for its AMISOM contribution while at the same time a troop presence in Somalia, CAR and South Sudan gives the Ugandan military an enhanced footprint across the region.

 

"It's just politics and playing to the gallery. They won't pull out. Things will be quietly settled behind closed doors with perhaps future reports not being so critical," said London-based Somali-analyst Hamza Mohamed.

 

The confidential 44-page report by the U.N. Security Council's Group of Experts, a body that monitors compliance with the U.N. sanctions and arms embargo in place for Congo, said M23 has expanded territory under its control, stepped up recruitment of child soldiers and summarily executed recruits and prisoners.

 

The report said Rwandan officials coordinated the creation of the rebel movement as well as its major military operations, while Uganda's more subtle support to M23 allowed the rebel group's political branch to operate from within Kampala. Uganda and Rwanda have repeatedly denied the accusations.

[Abwaan]

Not the best thing for the Somali government and I don't think that Ugandan government will do that too because it is not in their best interest, this is just kululaysi....amase booto. This is a wake up call for the International community and it might pave the way for UN troops.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

If they go they will just be replaced by other Africans.

[Abwaan]

The forces that I badly want to go are the bloody Ethiopians. They need to leave Somalia alone.

[Somalia]

Abwaan;885270 wrote:

The forces that I badly want to go are the bloody Ethiopians.

They need to leave Somalia alone.

Smart move posting this after you posted your first comment.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Abwaan baba ugu daran UN troops kulaha sawdigi dhulka ku jiiday UN troops blue helmetski na sawdigi canjeero ku dul dubtay markasu leeyahay UN hala ii keeno war UN iyo cali lahayn eeh gaale madowdi ba lugu so wada.

[Abwaan]

Jaalle, I NEVER wanted to see Ethiopian forces in Somalia. My view on this will be the same, whether yesterday, today or tomorrow.

[Somalia]

Xaaji Xunjuf;885272 wrote:

Abwaan baba ugu daran UN troops kulaha sawdigi dhulka ku jiiday UN troops blue helmetski na sawdigi canjeero ku dul dubtay markasu leeyahay UN hala ii keeno war UN iyo cali lahayn eeh gaale madowdi ba lugu so wada.

:D

[Abwaan]

War anigu halla ii keeno miyaan iri? Yaab badanaa...Waryaa I want Somali forces keeping the security laakiin waxaan iri waxay tani horseedeysaa in la keeno Ciidammo UN. Anigu Soomaaliya maba joogin xilliga aad sheegeysaan.

Dagaal, wiil baa ku dhinta ee wiil kuma dhasho.

lol@ Laguu soo wadaa, oo xaggeed iskaga saari? Sow adigan Xamar u soo wada shaqo doontay. Hakaa saarto.

[DoctorKenney]

This is a disaster! Few African States are as militarily capable and disciplined like the Ugandans. This is a classic case of UN Bureaucrats ******* it all up for everyone

[Che -Guevara]

Apophis;885274 wrote:

African bacaac, nothing serious there.

says the man whose entire agenda rests on their shoulder-pick up gun then.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Can i be the referee or do you guys want to do a free fight