Congo Denies Ugandan Claim On Pull-Out Deadline

Congo's government on Sunday denied a claim by Uganda that an end of February deadline for its army to leave Congo, where it has been hunting rebels, had been extended.

The joint operation to hunt the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in Congo began in mid-December when Ugandan war planes and helicopters bombed rebel bases before ground troops followed.

A few dozen rebels have been killed or surrendered, but hundreds of Congolese civilians have been killed in reprisal attacks by groups of LRA fighters dispersed by the assault.

The operation is sensitive in Congo as Uganda invaded Congo in the 1990s and was accused of backing rebels and looting resources.

"Time limits were lifted," Ugandan army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said on Sunday, adding the decision was taken after a meeting between the countries' military chiefs in Dungu, in Congo's northeastern Orientale province, on Friday.

"They will be just examining it from time to time," he said.

But Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende said: "The decision was taken that they (the Ugandan soldiers) should leave sometime in February. Nothing has changed."

Mende said the Congolese and Ugandan heads of state would meet at the end of the month to evaluate the situation.

So far, the operation has failed to net LRA leader Joseph Kony and his commanders who are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed during a 20-year war.

Last month, Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila allowed Rwanda's army, another previous occupying force, into the mineral-rich country to hunt its Hutu rebels. The move surprised analysts and angered supporters and the opposition.

Rwanda's army has launched attacks on Rwandan Hutu rebels that crossed into Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide, sparking a series of interlinked wars and rebellions in Congo that involved six foreign armies and only ended officially in 2003.

Critics say the joint operations highlight Kabila's inability to pacify his country, where rebellions simmer two years after he won post-war elections and despite support from the world's largest United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Supporters say the joint operations are evidence of improved relations between Congo and its Great Lake neighbours.

But they come at a politically sensitive time for Congo, where the economy has been weakened by the global slowdown due to a fall in demand for its minerals, which had fuelled a boom of investment after 2006 elections.

Congolese lawmakers have called for a debate on the Rwandan operation after they were not informed before it was launched.

Uganda and Congo have also disputed their joint border in the northeast, where oil exploration is picking up.