The presidents of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have agreed to hold a face-to-face summit in two weeks to discuss the tension at their common border, according to foreign ministry sources.
"The summit will take place on the September 7 and 8 in the Tanzanian town of Arusha," said James Mugume, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by state-owned New Vision on Sunday.
Congolese foreign minister Mbusa Nyamwisi flew to Kampala this weekend to deliver a message from President Joseph Kabila to his Ugandan counterpart, requesting for a direct meeting between the two heads of state.
"My visit is a response to the visit 10 days ago by minister Sam Kutesa, aimed at reinforcing our relations of good neighborliness. Like the proverb says, when you turn your neighbor into a friend, you can sleep with your door open," Nyamwisi said.
"But I also came with a message from Mr. Kabila. He asked for a meeting between the two heads of state before September 15," said Nyamwisi.
The objective of the summit is to build confidence, Nyamwisi said. But he admitted it was also about reaching an agreement on the common exploitation of the oil reserves in Lake Albert, which is shared by both countries.
Earlier this month, Congolese troops attacked an oil barge belonging to Canadian-based Heritage Oil near the tiny Rukwanzi Island, killing a British oil worker. A week earlier, the Congolese army captured four Ugandan soldiers at the same place, accusing them of illegally entering their waters.
"We have made an agreement over the sharing of oil reserves with Angola. We will do the same with Uganda. It is even an opportunity for us to work together," Nyamwisi said.
He called the recent incidents "unfortunate" and "regrettable" which would not happen again. "We don't want them to be repeated. We are very much aware that we need to stabilize the situation. We need to move forward, not backward. And I know the President is also convinced of that."
A border commission is to establish the exact borderline between the two countries based on the colonial maps, he repeated what his Ugandan counterpart had said earlier.
"We are going to establish a commission which will determine the borders. We have already called in Belgian expertise," said Nyamwisi.
The commission would have to establish to which country the disputed Rukwanzi Island belongs.
"But it is not about that little piece of land," he noted. "It is about the wealth underneath it. As long as there was nothing, we did not even know it existed."
(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2007)
