EAST AFRICA-Warring Neighbours

EAST AFRICA Warring Neighbours Hari Sharan Chhabra THE undeclared war between Tanzania and Uganda, in which both the countries are blaming each other for aggression, shows the endemically bad blood between the two neighbours. There have been flare-ups between them on several occasions, but the situation created by the present war is rather complicated, with Uganda claiming that it has seized about 1,800 sq km of Tanzanian territory, west of Lake Victoria. The situation has become further confused because, according to President Idi Amin, Ugandan forces occupied Tanzanian territory in retaliation against the capture of 1,000 sq km of Ugandan territory by the Tanzanian troops. For good measure, the Ugandan President has also alleged that Tanzania, with the help of Britain and the United States, has been involved in a plot to overthrow him. Uganda now asserts that river Kagaera is the new natural boundary between the two countries.