KAMPALA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is scheduled to host a ministerial and extraordinary summit on the security situation in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a top official said Thursday.
The summit, which will be held on Dec. 21 at State House Entebbe, 40 km south of the Ugandan capital city of Kampala, aims at diffusing the escalating fighting in the eastern DRC, Minister of State in charge of International Affairs Henry Oryem Okello told Xinhua by telephone.
The minister said that the summit complements the Washington, Nairobi, and Luanda accords, plus the initiatives by Qatar aimed at ending decades of fighting in the region.
"President Museveni is just complementing what was initiated at Nairobi, Luanda, then Washington, and now we are here," Okello said. "Whatever efforts are being made by each country, or leadership of each country, is to address, compliment or fill in gaps which may be seen in the process."
"After the Washington agreement, the conflict flared up. It is my sincere opinion based on my experience in the region, that the DRC situation is best known by the players in the region.
"Uganda is best placed and President Museveni is best placed. We know the history of how this thing originated and where it is," he said, noting that the region is best placed to find a solution to the DRC matters.
Fighting in the eastern DRC has escalated with the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group advancing to new positions despite the DRC and Rwanda signing a U.S.-brokered peace accord on Dec. 4.
The M23 on Wednesday started withdrawing from their positions in Uvira, a strategic city in the eastern DRC, days after capturing it.
The rebel outfit said the pullout was at the request of U.S. mediators and a confidence-building measure to support the ongoing peace process. ■
