Uganda army affirms commitment to Somalia mission

KAMPALA, Monday

Uganda is not considering withdrawing from a peacekeeping mission in Somalia despite anger over allegations made against its army in a new UN report, a military spokesman told AFP Monday.

The UN's Human Rights chief on Friday released a report that accused Uganda of committing war crimes during various incursions into the Democratic Republic of Congo during the two Congo wars from 1996 to 2003.

Kampala on Thursday warned that publishing the report would undermine Uganda's involvement in international peacekeeping and demanded it not be released.

Asked Monday if Uganda remained committed to Somalia despite the release of the report, army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulayigye told AFP: "that is a firm yes".

"We shall always stand by our African brothers," he added, explaining that the UN's accusations would not move Uganda to abandon its commitments to the Somali people.

Uganda has some 4,300 troops in Somalia supporting the country's embattled government against Islamist insurgents.

Also on Monday, miltary officials from the European Union arrived here to discuss the peacekeeping mission in Somalia and review the EU's programme, hosted by Uganda, to train 1,000 Somalia government soldiers by next March.

Simon Kasyate, spokesman for the EU mission in Kampala, said the military delegation would visit President Yoweri Museveni and travel to a military base in the western part of the country where the Somali troops are being schooled.