Sudan Officers Shield LRA

By New Vision

KAMPALA, Dec. 01, 2003 — Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels are operating a training camp in areas under Sudanese army control, the state minister for defence, Ruth Nankabirwa has said.

“He (LRA leader Joseph Kony) still has a rear base camp some two to three kilometres northwest of Nisitu junction, which is behind Sudan army lines and our forces deployed there cannot do anything, because the protocol under which they are deployed does not allow them to go beyond some lines,” Nankabirwa told AFP by telephone.

Nankabirwa first told parliament on Friday that the camp near Nisitu had between 100 and 150 recruits undergoing military training.

“He also has another camp at Odek in northern Uganda’s Kit valley,” she added.

Nankabirwa said Uganda did not want to blame Khartoum for this, because Sudanese President General Omar El Bashir had said his government was not involved, but rather indisciplined officers within his army.

“We are taking diplomatic steps to make Sudan honour its obligations under the protocol. But it should be noted that the Sudan government has not fully responded to the outstanding issues raised by Uganda,” she said.

In March 2002, under a protocol between the two countries, Khartoum allowed Kampala to deploy troops on its soil to carry out “Operation Iron Fist” against LRA bases.