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Uganda to withdraw troops from Somalia, says Mukasa Uganda to withdraw troops from Somalia, says Mukasa
(35 minutes later)
Ugandan Security Minister Muruli Mukasa has said his country will withdraw its forces from peace-keeping operations in Africa. Uganda will withdraw its forces from UN-backed international missions, Security Minister Muruli Mukasa says, escalating a long-running row.
The decision comes after a UN report accused Uganda of arming rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mr Mukasa said he was sending an official to New York to inform the UN of his decision.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 DRC will all be affected. Operations in Somalia, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo will be affected.
Mr Mukasa told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme: "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. 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.""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 and African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, as well as its force commander. 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 and analysts are concerned that a rapid withdrawal of Ugandan troops could threaten those gains. The Amisom force has helped the Somali government gain ground against Islamist militias.
Ugandan troops are deployed in smaller numbers to an international mission to the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo to hunt down the remaining elements of the Lords Resistance Army and its leader, Joseph Kony. Analysts say a rapid withdrawal of Ugandan troops could threaten those gains.
The LRA killed thousands of people and abducted thousands more during its long insurgency in northern Uganda, from where it was driven out five years ago. 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 remarks from the security minister echo a statement made in the Ugandan parliament on Thursday by Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.
Irreversible 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 BBC's correspondent in Uganda, Catherine Byaruhanga, says that though both the prime minister and the security minister have said the decision is irreversible, 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.
There has been no official statement from either the foreign or defence ministries, neither of which was willing to comment on the matter 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.
A report by a UN panel of experts last month said Rwanda and Uganda were both supplying weapons to the M23 rebels in the DRC, whose insurrection has forced some 500,000 from their homes since April - charges both countries denied. The rebels' insurrection has forced some 500,000 from their homes since April.
More than 80 Ugandan soldiers have been killed in Somalia.
In the Uganda capital Kampala, more than 70 people were killed in 2010 in a suicide attack claimed by the Somali Islamist militants, Al Shabab.