MPs demand Ugandan army withdrawal from South Sudan

Nov 22, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese parliament has called for an end to a deal allowing the Ugandan army to pursue the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in south Sudan.

“The National Assembly issued a resolution calling for non-renewal of the current military protocol with the Ugandan Peoples Defence Force (UPDF) in south Sudan,” the Sudan Vision daily said Wednesday.

The protocol signed in 2002 between Khartoum and Kampala gives the Ugandan army the right to carry out operations against the LRA in parts of southern Sudan the rebel group uses as rear bases.

The parliament bill also recommended joint forces comprising the regular Sudanese army and former southern rebels from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army should be given enhanced means to control the border.

The recommendation comes days after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered the Ugandan army to pull back from some of its bases in southern Sudan.

The move was seen as an attempt to boost talks aimed at ending two decades of civil conflict between Kampala and the LRA.

Following an August deal for a cessation of hostilities, the LRA had refused to assemble in designated points in southern Sudan, arguing they were too close to Ugandan military bases.

(AFP)