Uganda says it will pull troops out of South Sudan only if Juba secured

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni addresses a news conference during his official visit to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, December 26, 2014. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Uganda's president said on Friday he would pull troops out of South Sudan only if regional forces secured its capital Juba from rebel attack, as fighting in the world's newest state dragged on into a second year.

Yoweri Museveni, who backed South Sudan's now-ruling SPLM in its decades-long conflict with Sudan before independence in 2011, sent his troops across the border at Juba's invitation shortly after fighting began in mid-December last year.