KIGALI, April 17 (Reuters) - Rwanda
joined Uganda on Tuesday in rejecting accusations by a U.N. panel that
it had looted Congo's mineral wealth during three years of warfare, saying
it too had traded normally with the giant African country.
A report commissioned by U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan released this week said combatants' looting of the mineral
wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had helped to fuel the
many-sided war that began in 1998.
The Rwandan government said the report aimed to smear Rwanda's army and top leadership, arguing that its definition of legality was biased in favour of the Congolese government.
"What the report calls illegal exploitation is normal trade and exploitation of resources by the Congolese in conjunction with international and regional companies," Patrick Mazimhaka, special envoy of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, told Reuters.
"It is shocking that the UN panel calls this illegal exploitation," he said. "The report is based on falsehood".
Uganda's Minister in Charge of the Presidency Ruhakana Rugunda told Reuters that the army was in Congo primarily to safeguard Uganda's security, denying all involvement in looting.
"As far as I am concerned, what has been going on is real trade," he said. "If anybody has been doing business with Congo then it's normal."
Rugunda said anyone found guilty of the allegations would be dealt with according to Ugandan law.
The report said companies exploiting coffee, diamonds and other resources from Congo were run in part by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's relatives, including his younger brother Salim Saleh, and his wife, Jovia Akandwanaho.
The report by a U.N. appointed five-member panel also accused Rwanda and Burundi of pillaging everything from gold to livestock.
The panel called on the Security Council to impose bans on timber, diamond, gold and other exports from Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, such as coltan, a mineral used in products including cell phones and nuclear reactors.
It also called for suspension of aid to the three countries from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The report alleged the Ugandan and Rwandan presidents were "accomplices" by failing to prevent associates from enriching themselves.
Uganda, along with Rwanda, sent troops in 1998 to help rebels fighting against the Kinshasa government.
Efforts to revive a failed 1999 peace accord to end the war have been renewed since the January assassination of President Laurent Kabila, who was succeeded by his son Joseph.