**Uganda’s president and the king of the nation’s largest ethnic group have met for the first time in four years, weeks after deadly riots engulfed Kampala.**President Yoweri Museveni and King Ronald Mutebi of the Baganda group held an hour of talks behind closed doors. Both men said the meeting went well.
The king’s supporters rioted on 11 September after the government tried to stop the monarch from visiting them.
More than 20 people died in clashes between protesters and security forces.
The BBC’s Joshua Mmali, in the capital, Kampala, says officials insisted before the meeting that the two men would not discuss politics - because the king is a cultural leader, not a political one.
Among other issues, the pair talked about a radio station loyal to the king which was closed down during the riots for broadcasting anti-government messages, according to an official statement released after the meeting.
The country’s traditional kingdoms were banned in 1966 but reinstated by Mr Museveni in 1993.
Most of the residents of the Buganda Kingdom are ethnic Baganda, loyal to King Ronald.
But many residents in the area where the king had intended to visit say they have seceded from his kingdom.
The government said it had feared that the king’s visit would spark violence between his supporters and opponents.
But some analysts believe the president is deliberately stirring up trouble within the kingdom in a bid to reduce the king’s influence.
The king’s supporters have long called for the restoration of a federal administration that would give their largely ceremonial king the formal political power he is currently denied.
They are also seeking more control over their traditional lands, which include prime farmland they say has been taken by other ethnic groups.