Uganda says withdraws troops near LRA in Sudan
Nov 15, 2006 (KAMPALA) — The Ugandan army said on Wednesday it had withdrawn from three areas in southern Sudan after Lord’s Resistance Army rebels complained their fighters assembling as part of a truce were under siege.
An August truce signed between the government and the LRA has wobbled recently, threatening peace talks aimed at ending a 20-year war in northern Uganda that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 2 million.
Each side has accused the other of violating the truce. The army says the rebels have failed to assemble at two agreed areas in southern Sudan.
The LRA accused the army of deploying around them, making it unsafe to assemble, in particular at Owiny-Ki-Bul by soldiers in the towns of Magwi, Palutaka and Tibika.
“The UPDF (Uganda People’s Defence Forces) has effective of 13th November 2006 withdrawn from Magwi, Palutaka and Tibika,” army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said in a statement.
“It will be recalled that the LRA had always refused to assemble, citing our presence in those positions as the obstacle. We have therefore withdrawn to further facilitate the peace talks.”
If true, the move will put greater pressure on the LRA to assemble in the two areas, as agreed in a renewal of the truce their delegates signed in October.
The LRA were not immediately available for comment.
“The peace so far attained is irreversible,” Kulayigye said. “It remains our hope that the Lord’s Resistance Army will conform to the agreement and assemble in Ri-kwangba and Owiny-Ki-Bul.”
On a trip to the region this week, U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland met both Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and LRA leader Joseph Kony and urged both sides not to let the fragile peace process fail.
The rebels have said they will not sign a peace deal until the International Criminal Court drops charges against them. Kony and four other commanders are wanted for war crimes such as killing civilians, rape, mutilation and abducting children to swell their ranks.
(Reuters)