Museveni wishes Besigye a quick recovery

By Mutinda MwanziaUganda President Yoweri Museveni has broken his silence over the assault of opposition leader Kizza Besigye and wished him quick recovery.
Besigye, who is receiving treatment at a Nairobi Hospital after being flown from Uganda on Friday, was tear-gassed in his car and roughed up by State security agents on Thursday.
The opposition chief was allegedly sprayed with water laced with paper during the arrest.
It was Besigye’s fourth detention this month for his participation in a "walk-to-work" protest over high prices.
On Saturday, Museveni who fielded questions from journalists and participants during the Mindspeak forum at the Intercontinental Hotel, while wishing Besigye quick recovery, insisted the protests he was leading were illegal.
Crackdown on protesters"He has not been notifying the police or getting a permit leading to the confrontations," said Museveni.
Earlier Museveni, who was one of the keynote speakers during the meeting, was briefly interrupted by a civil society activist protesting against the crackdown on protestors and Besigye.
Two people were killed and at least 90 injured in Kampala after police fired bullets and teargas at crowds protesting against the arrest of the opposition leader.
"Mr President, how can we as Kenyans sit here and listen to you while you have been brutalising Ugandans?" queried the activist.
He was, however, cut short by Museveni’s security detail, who whisked him away from the hall before handing him over to Kenyan police.
Museveni, who remained unmoved, said he had come to the meeting expecting it to be an exchange of ideas and not a forum for name-calling.
He said police officers implicated in the shooting of protesters would be prosecuted.
Museveni, who avoided answering questions relating to the food crisis in Uganda, arrived at the hotel amid tight security by Kenyan and Ugandan police.
Police vehicles full of armed officers were strategically parked outside the hotel hosting the meeting with guests being screened at the entrances.
Earlier, Museveni called on President Kibaki at State House, Nairobi.
During their meeting, Kibaki and Museveni discussed ways of developing and improving cross-border infrastructure, including the proposed construction of a new standard gauge railway line, and the Kenya-Uganda petroleum pipeline.
According to PPS, President Kibaki expressed Kenya’s commitment to continue improving sections of the Northern Corridor to ease the movement of goods and services between the two countries.
The two leaders further discussed the East African integration and agreed that the process should move with speed so that the citizens of member states can fully enjoy the fruits of the regional economic bloc. The two presidents said there was need for peace and stability in the region, which they will be the cornerstone of development of the East African Community.