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Ugandan President Cites Security to Justify Medical Trips Abroad - 2003-10-05


Uganda's president says he and his family go abroad for medical treatment because he fears injury from doctors who politically oppose him.

In a statement published by Ugandan newspapers Sunday, President Yoweri Museveni cited security as the reason he sent his pregnant daughter and daughter-in-law to Germany to give birth.

Ugandan newspapers reported last month the two women were flown to Germany on the presidential jet, and that the trip cost the government $90,000.

In his statement today, President Museveni said he paid for the women's medical and lodging bills. He said the real cost to the state was about $27,000.

The president also said he was a target for assassins, and that he refuses to compromise on matters of security.

Mr. Museveni, who seized power in 1986, is facing an insurgency in northern Uganda from a rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army.

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