By Francis Kwera and Euan Denholm
KAMPALA (Reuters) - A mob stoned to death an Asian man in Uganda on Thursday and two other people were killed during a protest over a plan to cut down nearly a third of a rainforest reserve to grow sugarcane, police and witnesses said.
Troops in several armoured cars were deployed in central Kampala after police fired tear gas and live rounds to stop rioters attacking Asian businesses and a Hindu temple, angered by moves to expand an Indian-owned company's sugar plantations.
"Three people have been confirmed dead," the capital's police commander, Edward Ochom, told Reuters. "One is an Asian man who was stoned to death by the rioters. The other two are Ugandans and we are still investigating their deaths."
As scores of demonstrators hurled rocks at police in pouring rain, officers rescued more than 100 Asian men besieged in a Hindu temple and elsewhere, and rushed them to a police station.
"We were inside the temple and the protesters started attacking us from outside," 50-year-old Dipaul Patel told Reuters. "It was very frightening."
One witness, Senusu Mugodansonga, said a mob killed an Asian man after he crashed a motorbike into them.
"The Indian was driving his motorbike and he knocked into people, so they wanted to respond," he said.
Protest organiser Frank Muramuzi said the march began peacefully, before a "misunderstanding" with the police.
"All of a sudden they opened fire with tear gas and live ammunition," Muramuzi said. "Everyone scattered but two people were seen lying in the road."
FOREST TARGETED
The late former dictator Idi Amin expelled Uganda's Asians in 1972. Thousands have returned, but they are viewed with suspicion by some Ugandans who resent their domination of many businesses.
Police commanders had approved Thursday's march, called to protest against plans to cut down thousands of hectares of Mabira Forest to expand the estate of local sugar company Scoul.
Scoul is part of the Indian-owned Mehta Group.
The controversy began last year when President Yoweri Museveni ordered a study into whether to axe 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) or nearly a third of Mabira.
Mabira -- which has been a nature reserve since 1932 -- is one of Uganda's last remaining patches of natural forest.
The government's proposal angered some parliamentarians and residents. They said the environmental costs of slashing the forest would far exceed the economic benefits of the plantation.
Environmentalists say destroying Mabira could have grave ecological consequences, from increased soil erosion to the drying up of rivers and rainfall, and the removal of a buffer against polluting nearby Lake Victoria.
They say it would also threaten monkeys and nine species found only in Mabira and surrounding forests -- the Tit Hylia bird, six butterflies, a moth and a shrub used to treat malaria.
In a newspaper advertisement published on Thursday, Scoul said "anti-development lobby groups" were misleading Uganda's public about the company's plans for Mabira.
"Scoul is very conscious of the environment and would not like to disturb the ecology," it said.
The company had only asked the government for parts of Mabira that were already depleted or encroached on by locals.
Four people are reported killed in Kampala, Uganda, amidst protest marches organised against a government proposal to cut down 7,000 hectares of forest land to expand a private company's sugarcane plantations. 

Two men of Asian descent were stoned to death by a mob, and the deaths of two others were under investigation, according to police sources. A witness said that one of the Asians was attacked after he ran his motorcycle into a crowd. ''BBC News'' reported that a looter was shot dead and a bystander wounded by security guards. 

Asian businesses and a Hindu temple were attacked by rioters; in response, police deployed armoured cars, used tear gas, and opened fire to quell the violence. A group of Asians trapped in the temple by a mob were rescued by police. 

The sugar company is owned by the Mehta Group, established by Indian immigrant Nanji Kalidas Mehta. Asian immigrants formed a prosperous trading community in Uganda before they were expelled by Idi Amin in 1972. Many returned following Amin's downfall, but some Ugandans view their presence and business with suspicion. 

The Mabira reserve forest in south-east Uganda covers about 30,000 hectares and is home to several rare species; it has been a reserve forest since 1932. A primatologist working in the area announced in February that monkeys in the forest previously thought to be Gray-cheeked Mangabey (''Lophocebus albigena'') were in fact a new species.  

President Yoweri Museveni's government is considering a proposal to de-notify and transfer 7,000 acres of land to the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (Scoul) to expand its sugarcane plantations. A cabinet paper says the plan will generate 3500 jobs and will contribute 11.5 billion shillings to the treasury.

Arched tree root in the Mabira forest. Source: S A Perez.
Scoul bills itself as the largest employer in East Africa, with 7,300 employees manufacturing sugar and industrial alcohol at its 10,000 hectare Lugazi estate. The Ugandan newspaper ''Monitor'' reports that Scoul's plantations have been reduced in acreage after it failed to reach agreement over existing leases with various landlords. 

Scoul says that plantations at the Mabira forest will help double its annual production to 110 metric tonnes, and in a newspaper advertisement published on Thursday, said that "anti-development lobby groups" were misleading the public about the Mabira plan. In its environment policy, the company says it is committed to a managing land and wetlands resources in an environmentally sensitive manner. 

The plan is opposed by Ugandan MPs because of its environmental impact. An official from the Ugandan National Forestry Authority told the news agency AFP that the plan will destroy the area's biodiversity and affect locals' livelihood.   

Scoul says the forest land is already being encroached upon by subsistence farmers.

Meanwhile, the group has been offered land in Mengo and by the Anglican church in Mukono as an alternative to the Mabira plan. Scoul Chief Executive S.C Khanna says that he will consider such an alternative if the land is fertile, free of "squatters" and close enough — within 30 km of the sugar factory — so that the cost of transporting sugarcane is viable. 

Scoul has increased security after multiple fires destroyed crops at its plantations.