Uganda says rebel LRA has training camp in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec 01, 2003 (PANA) — Ugandan Defence minister Ruth Nankabirwa charged at the weekend that the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was operating training camps in areas under the control of government forces in neighbouring Sudan.

“[LRA leader] Joseph Kony still has a rear base some 2-3 km northwest of Nisitu junction, which is behind Sudan army lines and our forces deployed there cannot do anything, as they are not allowed to go beyond some lines,” Khartoum newspapers quoted Nankabirwa as affirming.

They quoted her as asserting last Friday in the Ugandan Parliament that the camp near Nisitu had 100-150 recruits undergoing military training.

“He (Kony) also has another camp at Odek in northern Uganda’s Kit valley,” the minister told deputies.

Nankabirwa noted that Khartoum had denied any links with Ugandan rebel operations in Sudan, but insisted “the Sudan government has not fully responded to outstanding issues raised by Uganda.”

Under a protocol between the two countries, Khartoum allowed Kampala in March last year to deploy troops on Sudanese soil in a search-and-destroy operation against LRA bases.

Uganda managed to overrun some of the bases, but the rebels retreated back to Uganda and resumed violent attacks on civilians after a two-year lull.

Khartoum and Kampala have exchanged envoys and relations seemed to be improving until recently when the Ugandan government resumed claims that elements in the Sudanese army were still supporting the LRA – charges refuted by Khartoum.