Ugandan president to hold inquiry into death of priest

The  family and colleagues of the Galway priest murdered in Uganda have welcomed a promise by the Ugandan president to hold an inquiry into the affair.

President Yoweri Museveni said he would set up a team to investigate allegations of a cover-up in the execution of two soldiers accused of the killing.

This followed calls from the European Union for a full investigation into the circumstances of the trial and the speed of the executions. EU ambassadors made their concerns known to President Museveni at a meeting on Wednesday.

"Museveni has assured us to set up a team to investigate fully the circumstances of the executions," Italian Ambassador Mr Mauricio Teucii said yesterday after returning from the talks.

Mill Hill Missionary Father O'Toole (31) from Curraghmore, Headford, and his two Ugandan passengers were shot dead as they drove through Kotido district in northeast Uganda on Thursday, March 21st.

Within four days, Corporal James Omediyo and Private Abdullah Mohammed, had been arrested, tried and executed in public.

There was widespread disquiet about the speed of the execution with the priest's family and order expressing their concern.

The Irish ambassador Mr Máirtín Ó'Fannín conveyed the Government's concern to the Ugandan authorities on two occasions.

Yesterday, a close relative of the O'Toole family said that while they would welcome an investigation into the affair, they were resigned to the fact that it would not bring Declan back.

"What has happened has happened, and this is not going to change it," the family spokesman said.Father Joe Jones, bursar with the Mill Hill Missionaries in Dublin, said the order welcomed the news. They had been concerned at the circumstances of Father O'Toole's death, he said.

The army said the soldiers had been involved in violent robbery but Father Jones said nothing had been stolen in the incident and he questioned if the young soldiers were acting alone.

Additional reporting: AFP