The Irish ambassador to Uganda has told the government of Ireland's concern over the execution of two Ugandan soldiers for murdering an Irish priest and two other men.
Mr Mairtin O'Fainin said he had held meetings with the Ugandan ministers for foreign affairs and defence and expressed Ireland's "concern over the use of a death sentence".
"We also told the Ugandan government that by moving in haste, the quest for the real information would be compromised by some degree," Mr O'Fainin added.
"It would have been better to conduct full investigations," he insisted.
Corporal James Omedio and Private Abdullah Mohammed were publicly executed by a firing squad on Monday.
They had been sentenced to death just two hours earlier by a court martial for last Thursday's killing in northeastern Uganda of missionary Father Declan O'Toole (31), his driver and a parish employee.
Yesterday, a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said the Government had instructed Mr O'Fainin to express its concerns to the Ugandan government over the executions.
The spokesman said the ambassador had sought a meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to request clemency for the soldiers, but that the men were executed before a reply had been received.
Ugandan army officials have said the motive for last week's attack was probably robbery, although Fr O'Toole's watch and wallet containing foreign currency were found intact on him after the murder.
AFP