Sudan demands apology

By Emma Mutaizibwa, The Monitor

KAMPALA, Dec. 09, 2003 — The Khartoum government has reacted angrily to Uganda’s renewed claims that rebel leader Joseph Kony still has bases in Sudan.

The Khartoum government yesterday summoned Uganda’s Ambassador to Sudan, Mr Mull Katende, to protest the claims.

On December 2, the Minister of State for Defence, Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, was quoted in the local media saying that Mr Kony still has a rear base camp 3km northwest of Nisitu junction, behind the Sudan army lines.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan has summoned H.E. Mull Katende, the Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda to Sudan, to protest the statements of the State Minister for Defense,” a statement issued yesterday by the Sudan embassy here reads.

The Sudanese want Katende to send a fact-finding mission with the participation of the Americans to verify the presence of LRA camps “within the Sudanese lands behind the Sudan army lines.

“Upon verification of non-existence of such camps, the government of the Republic of Sudan demands an explanatory reply and an apology for that unfounded allegation,” the statement reads.

Sudan says this information has been drawn to the attention of Mr Roger Winter, the head of the Humanitarian and Conflict Resolution Department of USAID.

Sudan maintains that Nankabirwa’s statement does not serve the object and purpose of the promotion and progress of the ties between the two countries.