Uganda asked to pay for war losses before pursuing rebels in DR Congo

Uganda has been asked to pay for the war losses it caused to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo before it can be allowed in to flush out the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) should the ongoing peace talks fail.

Quoting anonymous source, Sunday Monitor reported the Congolese side insisted Uganda first pay up to 10 billion U.S. dollars in compensation for plunder of its natural resources and loss of lives during the Ugandan military presence in the vast central African country in the late 1990's.

The source within the UN Mission in Sudan said there were ongoing negotiations involving Britain, the UN and DR Congo to have the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) cleared to attack the LRA's hideout in Garamba National Park, northeast of DR Congo.

"There is a process underway but what has complicated it is the fact that Kinshasa wants Kampala to compensate after they lost the ICJ (International Court of Justice) case," said the source.

Uganda lost the case filed by DR Congo with the ICJ late last year, consequently obligated to pay damages for the alleged looting of Congolese natural resources.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has revealed consultations are indeed on for a possible multinational raid on Garamba, where the Joseph Kony-led LRA rebels have been based since late last year.

"Talks are going on between Uganda, government of South Sudan, United Nations and the Congo government to unite forces to attack and arrest the terrorists in Garamba," Museveni said on Friday, giving a different list of parties to the consultations.

"But this is just in consideration," the president added.

Ugandan troops entered the DR Congo in 1998 to fight the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group who launched attacks to Ugandan government from bordering area. The pursuit, however, ended up involving local conflicts aimed at toppling the Kinshasa government.

The Congolese government has sued the Ugandan government, asking for compensation of the war losses before they pulled out in 2003.

Kampala and Kinshasa are re-evaluating the figure as is standard procedure but should both parties fail to agree, the 17- member ICJ will determine the amount.

The Ugandan government is currently engaged in the peace talks with the LRA rebels in Juba, southern Sudan, to end the nearly two- decade insurgency in northern Uganda, one of Africa's longest conflicts, that has left tens of thousands of people dead and over 1.4 million displaced.

Source: Xinhua