SPLA soldiers in DRCongo call for security guarantees from Khartoum
Dec 1, 2005 (KINSHASA) — Elements of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) who have been based in Kangezi-Base, Kagwa Collectivity, some 84km north of Aru, for the last five years, are opposed to a return home without security guarantee. Consequently, they called on the local authorities to contact Khartoum, Aru administrator told radiookapi.net.
According to Kagwa authorities, about 100 SPLA elements have for the last five years taken refuge in the DRCongo, precisely in Kangezi-Base, due to conflicts in Sudan.
On 9 January this year, the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed a peace accord in Kenya, ending 21 devastating years of war that claimed at least 1.5 million lives and displaced another four million people.
Aru administrator says: “Before returning to Sudan, these elements requested that we contact the Khartoum government. It is a fact that Kangezi-Base belongs to the DRCongo. We have sent a report to the hierarchical authorities and we are waiting”.
On the subject, Faustin Drakana Kananga announces that measures have been taken at local level for the holding of a bilateral meeting with the Sudanese authorities.
(BBC MS/ST)