The Uganda government has responded to a ruling by the International Court of Justice

However, judges at ICJ said Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, had not provided sufficient evidence to prove that Uganda, beyond a reasonable doubt, was directly responsible for any more than 15,000 of the scores of persons believed to have died in the conflict.

"The court sets out the total amount of compensation awarded to the DRC, which is 325 million US dollars," said Joan Donoghue, the chief judge of the UN court.

Responding to the ICJ judgement, the Uganda government wrote:

We have noted the decision of the court and while the award is not as outrageous as the claims made, we are of the opinion that the decision did not meet the standard of fairness we expected.

We challenge and reject the findings of wrongdoing on the part of the UPDF which was singled out notwithstanding the acknowledgement by the court of the existence of so many belligerents in the conflict. The UPDF was and remains a disciplined force and a force for good in all the countries it has operated in to this day.

The conflict from which this dispute arose was resolved in a peace accord in Lusaka which confirmed the existence of the problems faced by the countries neighbouring the DRC.

As it turns out, the court’s decision is yet another failure to understand or appreciate African matters and makes no contribution to current efforts at resolving, on our own, the security issues that persist.

This, however, shall not deter us from continuing to engage the government of the DRC to resolve this matter.

Signed: Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Attorney General in the Uganda government

Wednesday's judgment is a milestone on the road to a legal settlement regarding the aforesaid 5-year conflict. To reach this position has indeed been a long and arduous journey.

In 2005, the ICJ ruled that Uganda had to pay war reparations to the DRC.

Kinshasa welcomed the ruling and said it would seek $6-$10bn (£3.4-£5.6bn) in compensation, an estimate the court said would be appropriate.

However, a number of Uganda's representatives rejected what they termed as the "staggering" demands of the claim.

Their response was in view of the court settling on $11b in compensation claimed by DRC. This sum, the Ugandan government said, was "disproportionate and economically ruinous".

"It essentially seeks to make Uganda responsible for everything that happened in the conflict," Uganda's former Attorney General, William Byaruhanga, told the court.

Uganda's foreign minister, Okello Oryem, said the ruling was unfair.

"We went to Congo to pursue rebels; we were not the only people in Congo,” he said.

More than 3 million died in fighting involving Congolese militias, rebel groups and armies from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia

Founded after World War II, the ICJ rules in disputes between countries, mainly based on treaties. Its decisions are final and cannot be appealed.