(Recasts with comment from Ugandan minister, pvs KAMPALA) By Lubunga Bya'Ombe KINSHASA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo agreed on Tuesday to hold formal talks to defuse a border dispute in which Congolese troops shot dead a British oil worker. Congo says its soldiers were returning fire in the Aug. 3 battle with security guards working for Heritage Oil Corp <HOC.TO>, which Kinshasa says was carrying out illegal exploration in its half of Lake Albert. Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa said after a two-day visit in Kinshasa that the two countries would hold a meeting in a border town at the end of the month to maintain dialogue. "We do not want this to escalate," Kutesa said, after being sent by President Yoweri Museveni. He said "communication channels" had been opened to resolve any such future incidents. "The Ugandan army is not going to attack Congolese territory. The Ugandan army is going to defend Ugandan territory against anyone who intends to enter by force. Nobody can violate our borders," he said. Congo's foreign ministry said there would also be a meeting in September in Kampala attended by representatives from Rwanda and Burundi, as well as Congo and Uganda. The Heritage incident followed Congolese forces' July 29 arrest of four Ugandan soldiers who were later freed and came six days before three Ugandan civilians were killed further south by a militia that crossed the frontier from Congo. Relations between Kampala and Kinshasa have been fraught for years, with Kampala regularly threatening to send troops across the border if no action is taken against a number of rebel groups based in lawless eastern Congo. The neighbours fought a 1998-2003 war involving five other countries scrambling for Congo's rich resources. Lake Albert, in East Africa's Great Rift Valley, is the focus of a new hunt for crude on a continent long dominated by West African oil sources. Heritage is exploring in two blocks on the Ugandan side of the lake and has found high grade crude in a well drilled this year. It also has concessions in Congo but has not yet had permission to start operations there, the government says. (Additional reporting by Francis Kwera)
