Besigye had been meeting a number of senior opposition figures in an upmarket suburb of the capital, Kampala, ahead of a rally to demonstrate against corruption and economic hardships.

Police intercepted the group on the highway as they headed towards the city centre.

“Don’t allow yourselves to be used by this criminal government. What crime have I committed? Why should you be used to wreak havoc on your own country,” Besigye told police during the confrontation.

Veteran leader Yoweri Museveni cracked down hard on a wave of protests against surging prices last year.

Besigye was arrested several times last year during violent clashes between the security forces and his supporters. In one of the protests, he was pepper-sprayed in the eyes and badly manhandled, and had to go to hospital in neighbouring Kenya.

The opposition-led Activists 4 Change group, which spearheaded those protests with Besigye, accused the government earlier this week of “failed economic policies” which the group said had allowed the cost of living to soar.

Besigye was being held in a police station in Kampala.

Reuters.

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics said headline inflation fell two percentage points from 29 percent a month ago and the core rate of inflation – which excludes food crops, fuel, electricity and metred water — fell to 29.2 percent from 30.6 percent.

The statistics office said the average annual inflation rate this year was 18.7 percent up from 4 percent in 2010 and the highest since 1992 when it stood at 54.5 percent.

“The main inflation driver is food prices … food price inflation decreased to 34.7 percent for the year ending December 2011 from 40.3 percent registered in November 2011,” the statistics bureau said in a statement.

It said the prices of matoke, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, carrots, beans and ground nuts had all fallen.

Month-on-month, the headline inflation rate edged down 0.1 percent in December compared to a 0.1 percent rise in November, helped by a 3.9 percent month-on-month drop in food prices.

Double-digit inflation and a weak local currency had prompted public protests earlier this year in east Africa’s third largest economy over high food and fuel prices.

But a round of increases in the central bank’s key lending rate seem to have finally put a halt on rising inflation, which also fell in November after reaching an 18-year high in October.

Uganda’s shilling has also recovered from an all-time low of 2,901 hit in late September, although it is still about 6.5 percent weaker than the dollar in the year to date.

Reuters.

Ann Mugisha, deputy foreign envoy for the Forum for Democratic Change, said his exact place of detention was unclear after being moved from different police stations.

“Besigye … was taken in a police vehicle and his driver chased them but he lost them as they entered a police barracks. Up to now we don’t know where he is and we’re calling it an abduction,” she told Reuters.

Ugandan police officials were not immediately available for comment. Last week they said Besigye would be kept under house arrest until he promises to stop participating in anti-government protests, a move a court ruled as illegal.

The authorities had briefly detained Besigye, a one-time presidential contender, earlier this month when he joined a ‘walk-to-work’ protest on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala.

Deadly protests in April and May over high food and fuel prices were crushed by President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for more than two decades and who blames the high costs on outside pressures.

Besigye was badly beaten and put under house arrest at the time and has since stayed away from most major protests that the opposition has tried to launch.

in Reuters.

Abyei est l’un des noeuds de la crise entre le Nord et le Sud. Cette enclave particulièrement riche en pétrole est revendiquée par les deux parties. Khartoum a juré de rester à Abyei, défiant les Nations unies qui demandent à l’armée régulière de Karthoum de mettre fin aux pillages et de se retirer de la localité.

« Nous demandons à ce que le gouvernement de Khartoum protège les civils à d’Abyei, comme ce sont eux qui contrôlent la ville et qu’ils ont dissous les autorités locales, il faut qu’ils fassent cesser les attaques menées par des civils armés », a déclaré le porte-parole de l’UNMIS, la mission des Nations unies au Soudan, Kouyder Zerouk.
Les Etats-Unis demandent aussi aux autorités de Khartoum de se retirer d’Abyei. De son côté, le président ougandais, Yoweri Museveni, tente de mettre sur pied une initiative régionale pour désamorcer le conflit. Selon Okello Oreym, son ministre des Affaires étrangères, il travaille activement depuis dimanche à mobiliser les chefs d’Etat d’Afrique de l’Ouest pour créer une médiation entre les gouvernements du Nord et du Sud-Soudan.

Okello Oreym précise que la prise d’Abyei par l’armée du Nord-Soudan samedi pourrait compromettre les perspectives de paix au-delà du Soudan, en l’occurrence dans la région des Grands Lacs. L’accord de paix signé en 2005 entre le Nord et le Sud-Soudan avait été parrainé par les Etats qui comprennent, entre autres, les pays comme l’Ouganda, le Kenya et l’Ethiopie.

La prise d’Abyei est un coup dur pour le président ougandais qui avait déclaré lors de son investiture jeudi dernier en présence du président Sud-Soudanais Slava Kiir que l’Ouganda allait apporter du pétrole depuis la région contestée d’Abyei. Dans le passé, l’armée ougandaise avait menacé le Nord-Soudan d’intervenir militairement au côté du Sud-Soudan si ce dernier était agressé. Mais elle adopte désormais un ton moins péremptoire.

RFI.

A government spokesman confirmed at least one death. But local independent TV station WBS reported that five had died when police opened fire on opposition supporters who threw stones at the cars. The vehicles included a convoy carrying Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

Police were unavailable for comment on the TV report.

Museveni, who has held power for 25 years, was sworn in for a fourth term on Thursday after winning elections in February that opposition parties said were rigged. Since the vote, opposition leaders including Kizza Besigye have led a series of often violent protests against high food and fuel prices.

On Thursday, Besigye’s supporters also clashed with police as the crowd escorted him from Entebbe airport into Kampala.

Police said they had to move in after crowds started throwing stones at vehicles carrying guests at the inauguration.

“President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria’s convoy was attacked by Dr Besigye’s supporters as it was heading to Entebbe State House for the luncheon with the President,” said Fred Opolot, director of the government media centre.

“Unfortunately, a (motorcyclist) who was crossing (near) the president’s car was shot dead. The security forces mostly used rubber bullets. But he really posed a threat to a foreign dignitary who happened to be a head of state.”

Besigye has been arrested four times since protests began in April. He was returning to Uganda from Kenya, where he had received hospital treatment for injuries suffered during his last arrest, his supporters said.

Police spokeswoman Judith Nabakoba said crowds threw stones and pulled mirrors from the cars ferrying the dignitaries.

A Reuters witness said police doused the crowd in tear gas and beat them with sticks, blocking them from entering Kampala where they said they planned to hold a prayer meeting.

Earlier in the day, Besigye and his wife Winnie waved to several thousand ululating supporters through the sun-roof of their car. The crowds made V-for-victory signs amid a heavy security presence along the 40 km road leading to Kampala, where the inauguration was taking place.

SWEARING-IN

During the ceremony, a different, jubilant crowd cheered as Museveni, sporting his trademark rancher’s hat, was sworn in, flanked by the leaders of Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and South Sudan.

In his speech, Museveni said food prices would come down following an expected bumper harvest, and accused others of being desperate for power and resorting to “disruptive schemes”. “Those disruptive schemes will be defeated,” he said.

Analysts say Museveni has picked a fight with Besigye, confident that donors will not criticise his tactics too much because Ugandan troops form the backbone of an African peacekeeping force in Somalia.

“Museveni knows that, as unpalatable as the actions of his regime may be, the donor states cannot afford to turn on him as long as he spares them having to deal with Somalia themselves,” said J. Peter Pham, Africa analyst at the Atlantic Council.

Other regional experts said Museveni, widely regarded as an astute political leader, would be wary of alarming foreign investors developing the east African country’s oil reserves.

Uganda struck oil on its western border with Congo in 2006 and commercial production is expected in 2012, bringing a flow of cash that Museveni promised will be used to transform his poverty-stricken country to a middle-income state by 2016.

Besigye was Museveni’s doctor during the guerrilla war that swept the rebel leader to power in 1986, but the two fell out and have been rivals ever since.

Reuters.

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye

Museveni is being inaugurated after winning an election in February in which Besigye was his closest opponent.

Besigye has been defeated by the veteran leader at Uganda’s past three presidential elections, which he says have been rigged. He has refused to recognise Museveni as president.

He is expected to hold a prayer meeting to coincide with Museveni’s inauguration.

“I think most of the time I will be at home. There are no special plans. We (opposition) intend to have a prayer (session) for our country which I will take part in,” Besigye told Reuters as he queued at the check-in desk at Nairobi’s main airport.

A Kenya Airways spokesman confirmed that Besigye was on one of its flights and that the plane had left.

Besigye has been arrested four times in Uganda since protests over high fuel and food prices began in April. He had gone to the Kenyan capital Nairobi for medical treatment after being wounded when police detained him two weeks ago.

Museveni, in power for 25 years, has promised to crush the protests, blaming the rising food and fuel costs on drought and global increases in crude oil prices.

Reuters.

Eight people have been killed and more than 250 treated in Kampala’s Mulago hospital for injuries during three weeks of unrest in the east African country, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement.

The treatment of opposition leader Kizza Besigye during his latest arrest was “shocking” and it is reported that he has still has not fully recovered his sight after being sprayed at point-blank range with pepper spray on Thursday, she said.

“The excessive use of force by security officers was plain to see in the television footage of the event. While I do not condone the violent rioting that followed, the Ugandan authorities must realize that their own actions have been the major factor in turning what were originally peaceful protests about escalating food and fuel prices into a national crisis,” Pillay said.

President Yoweri Museveni vowed on Saturday to defeat the protests. He accused organisers of plotting to destabilise his government through looting.

The unrest has the potential to unnerve investors in east Africa’s third largest economy and weaken its currency, the Ugandan shilling.

Noting that further protests were planned for Monday, Pillay said Ugandans must be allowed their right to peaceful assembly, and their legitimate concerns about the increased cost of living and demands for wider political dialogue must be addressed.

Some 580 people are believed to have been arrested across the country, Pillay said.

Her office had received information that since protests began on April 11, police and the Uganda People’s Defense Force had indiscriminately used teargas, pepper spray, and both rubber and live bullets against protesters, and even against individuals who were not involved in the protests.

According to the Uganda Human Rights Commission, teargas has also been fired into schools, health centres and homes, affecting women and children, the U.N. statement said.

“Many of these actions clearly constitute disproportionate and excessive use of force,” said Pillay, a former U.N. war crimes judge from South Africa. “Eight people have now lost their lives, including a two-year-old girl allegedly shot by a member of the security forces.”

Two people were killed and at least 90 injured in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Friday after police fired bullets and teargas at crowds protesting against the arrest of Besigye.

Reuters.

Filmée par la télévision, son arrestation musclée, la quatrième en un mois, a provoqué des émeutes et de violents affrontements dans toute la capitale ougandaise. Les manifestants ont dressé des barricades et brûlé des pneus. La police et l’armée ont répliqué par des tirs à balles réelles et des jets de gaz lacrymogènes. Environ 360 manifestants ont été arrêtés.

« Nous sommes encore en train de patrouiller en ville. Il y a eu des violences partout, au centre-ville et dans les banlieues, témoigne Catherine Ntabadde, porte-parole de la Croix-Rouge ougandaise. La Croix-Rouge a évacué plus de 80 blessés vers l’hôpital. Et la police et d’autres ambulances en ont évacué une vingtaine. Donc ça fait plus de 100 blessés. Certains sont blessés par balles, d’autres ont des ecchymoses, d’autres ont inhalé trop de gaz lacrymogène. Deux personnes sont mortes de leurs blessures par balles ».

D’après Catherine Ntabadde, après plusieurs heures d’affrontement, la situation est revenue à la normale à Kampala dans l’après-midi. Les barricades ont été levées et la police et l’armée patrouillaient en ville.

Kizza Besigye reste sous le coup de plusieurs inculpations, notamment d’incitation à la violence et participation à un rassemblement illégal.

RFI.

Besigye’s lawyer David Mpanga said he was unable to make a plea because he could neither open his eyes nor talk. The judge concluded he was not in good health, adjourned the case until May 2 without reading out charges, and released him on bail.

This is the fourth time in three weeks that Besigye, runner-up to veteran President Yoweri Museveni in a disputed February election, has been detained by police over the protests that have killed at least five.

The campaign, dubbed “walk to work”, calls on Ugandans to leave their cars at home and walk to work to highlight the high price of fuel and food.

Museveni, in power since 1986, blames drought for high food costs and soaring oil prices for surging local fuel costs, and has warned Besigye that his protests will not be tolerated.

“I want to see what level of irrationality they have reached. They said walking is a protest. Is driving now also a protest?” Besigye said from his car before he was arrested.

“We are not asking for a regime change … People of Uganda are expressing discontent with conditions in Uganda. Thing is, I am not setting out to be a martyr, I’m simply asserting my citizen’s rights,” he said.

Besigye, who has been defeated by Museveni in three elections, was helped to his car from the court by opposition officials as supporters sang: “We shall overcome.”

“The most worrisome thing is his eyes. They are acutely inflamed and it is difficult to assess them,” Besigye’s sister Olive Kobsingye, who is a doctor, told reporters.

DRAGGED FROM CAR

Besigye had initially tried to walk to work again in protest at rising living costs, but was stopped by police at his gate. He decided to drive, tailed by police and supporters, before security forces blocked his car at a roundabout.

After a long standoff, plainclothes police smashed his car window with a hammer but Besigye refused to leave. His bodyguards were dragged from the vehicle and severely beaten.

A policeman smashed another window with a pistol and pointed the gun at the opposition leader while a second man drenched Besigye with pepper spray. He was eventually hauled out, dragged along the road and tossed into a nearby pickup truck.

“He was driving, but he eventually attracted a crowd which he couldn’t control and we tried to give him directions to take another route but he defied these directives. We tried to negotiate with him but he didn’t budge,” said Nabakoba.

“Police used reasonable force but investigations are underway on any allegations of violence,” she said.

After his arrest, police dispersed hundreds of Besigye supporters gathered at the roundabout, firing teargas and bullets, Reuters witnesses said.

Police said there were also protests in Masaka, a town about 120 km (75 miles) from the capital. Local police spokesman Noah Serujonji said protesters started burning tyres and blocking roads but they were eventually dispersed.

Besigye was bailed from prison on Wednesday after being charged last Thursday with inciting public protests, and immediately vowed to carry on with the campaign of twice-weekly “walk to work” demonstrations.

He has been arrested during four of the five protests so far. The only protest in which Besigye was not detained was when he was taken to hospital for treatment on a hand he says was hit by a rubber bullet.

“This is our president: Besigye. We call him ‘Big’. ‘Big is big’, we say. That is why they attack him. They attack him because they fear him. But he comes back again and again to face this government,” said supporter Edward Semuwemba.

Reuters.

“Besigye has been arrested on the road as he walked with other people toward town. He is being held at Kasangati police station,” police spokeswoman Judith Nabakoba told Reuters.

A resident, Richard Kavuma, said Besigye was arrested just outside his home. The police forcibly loaded him on to a pick-up truck and drove him to the police station.

The protests began last week after prices rose because of a drop in food production caused by drought in the east African country and an increase in transport costs as a result of higher global oil prices.

The consumer price index jumped 4.1 percent in March from February, pushing the year-on-year inflation rate to 11.1 percent, the fifth rise in succession.

President Yoweri Museveni, who defeated Besigye in the presidential election in February, vowed to quash the protests on Saturday.

Reuters.