/ 11 October 1998

Uganda confirms control of DRC airsrips

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Sunday 9.00pm.

THE Ugandan government has confirmed that Ugandan troops now control several airstrips in the easter Democratic Republic of Congo.

Regional Cooperation Minister Amama Mbabazi said on Sunday that Uganda was holding the airstrips to prevent Sudan from using them to deliver supplies to Ugandan rebels.

“The best achievement has been to successfully stop Sudanese reinforcements to these people and we have curtailed all efforts by Sudan to directly get involved,” Mbabazi said.

He did not say how many airstrips were under Ugandan control or identify them.

Kampala accuses Sudan of backing several Ugandan rebel groups fighting to oust the government of President Yoweri Museveni. Khartoum for its part alleges that Kampala is allied with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army fighting to free the mainly Christian and animist southern Sudan from domination by the Muslim north.

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