20110418
reuters

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye and a number of associates were arrested as they prepared to take part in a third round of protests over rising food and fuel prices, police said on Monday.

Besigye, President Yoweri Museveni's closest rival in February elections, was detained by plainclothes offices outside his house as he left to join further rallies, which begun last week in protest against steep price rises.

"Besigye has been arrested on the road as he walked with other people toward town. He is being held at Kasangati police station," police spokeswoman Judith Nabakoba told Reuters.

President Yoweri Museveni, who was re-elected in February, has warned he would not allow Besigye to lead the protests, and blamed drought for reduced food production and higher global oil prices for increased transport costs.

The East African nation's consumer price index jumped 4.1 percent in March from February, pushing the year-on-year inflation rate to 11.1 percent -- the fifth rise in succession.

Besigye, who right hand was heavily bandaged following an injury sustained in last Thursday's protest, was forcibly loaded on to a pick-up truck and taken to a police station for interrogation. It was unclear whether he faced any charges.

"We are in the final stages of investigations. The files are going to be submitted to the director of public prosecution and the DPP will go through the files and would advise accordingly whether to prosecute or which cases to prefer against him," Vincent Ssekate, deputy police spokesman, told Reuters.

Outside the station where Besigye was being held, police fired tear gas at a growing crowd of about 3,000 people.