Heavy Fighting Breaks Out in Uganda as Cease-Fire Collapses

Fighting broke out between soldiers loyal to former dictator Idi Amin and government troops less than 48 hours after a cease-fire went into effect, diplomats and residents said Thursday.

Ugandan leader Tito Okello, in his first public address since signing a peace agreement with National Resistance Army rebel leaders on Tuesday, pleaded with all factions in the country to observe the peace.

“Don’t let me down. Don’t let Uganda down,” Okello said. “You soldiers are the first enemy of the people, even before Uganda is attacked, if you fail to respect your uniform.

“I am ashamed of seeing armed soldiers in Uganda all the time. They fire their guns all the time and this ends in bloodshed,” Okello said.

Diplomats and residents of Kampala said there was heavy shooting in and around the capital Wednesday night, and police said as many as 15 people, including some soldiers, were killed.

Ex-Legislator Killed

Police said a former member of Parliament, Francis Kasuru, and a prominent Kampala lawyer, Kiwanuka Bwanka, were among the civilians killed.

Under terms of the peace treaty signed in Kenya on Tuesday with the National Resistance Army, the main guerrilla group in the country, all fighting forces in Uganda were to be disarmed and an immediate cease-fire was to take effect.

One diplomat said the shooting near Kampala appeared to be between army units and members of the Former Ugandan National Army, or FUNA, a guerrilla group composed of former soldiers loyal to Amin.

FUNA signed a separate peace agreement with Uganda’s military regime shortly after the July 27 coup that toppled President Milton Obote and brought Gen. Okello to power.

Fear Retribution

Diplomatic sources said the shooting erupted when FUNA guerrillas refused to surrender their weapons to the army. Residents said about 300 FUNA guerrillas have left Kampala since the signing of the peace treaty, apparently fearful of government and National Resistance Army retribution.

One of the key provisions of the pact calls for the immediate arrest, trial and punishment of any Ugandan who has committed human rights violations since the July 27 coup.

The National Resistance Army has singled out former Amin soldiers in FUNA as the worst violators of human rights since the coup and has demanded their immediate punishment.