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Uganda's main opposition leader refuses to answer terror charges

Ugandans line the road to give the two-finger salute to the convoy of Ugandan opposition leader for the Forum for Democratic Change Kizza Besigye as he leaves the High Court in Kampala on Friday. PHOTO: EPA

Uganda's main opposition leader again refused to answer terrorism charges in a military court on Friday, as a political crisis intensified in this east African country ahead of presidential elections next year.

Kizza Besigye first refused to enter a plea on Thursday when charges of terrorism, which carry the death penalty, and illegal firearms possession were filed against him in the military court, which is controlled by the president's trusted aides. Earlier this month, civilian prosecutors accused Besigye of treason.

The military judge ordered Besigye held until the trial proper begins on Dec. 19. Later on Friday, the civil court granted bail, but Besigye remained imprisoned on the military charges.

Besigye was greeted by huge crowds when he returned from exile last month to run for president. He has mounted the strongest challenge to President Yoweri Museveni's 19-year rule.

Museveni had been hailed as a reformer but his recent crackdown on Besigye has brought criticism from international allies and human rights organizations.

"Nobody is trying to stop him from [running in] elections," Museveni told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of a Commonwealth summit in Malta where he has faced pressure over the Besigye case.

Museveni, who has ruled for 19 years, said the international community was unreasonably biased in favor of the Ugandan opposition.

atrocities

Meanwhile, conditions in northern Uganda are so appalling that UN agencies have decided they have to beef up efforts to curb atrocities against some 2 million people who have fled their homes because of Africa's longest-running civil war, a key official said on Friday.

"It's one of the least addressed and one of the biggest humanitarian crises that we have in the region," said Dennis McNamara, who heads the UN humanitarian office's efforts to help people displaced in their own countries.

McNamara had just returned from a visit to northern Uganda, where the Lord's Resistance Army has been waging war on the Ugandan government for 19 years.
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