South Sudan’s Kiir warns Ugandan LRA of military action
Jan 24, 2007 (JUBA) — President of Southern Sudan government has warned of military actions against rebels of Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) accused of being against Sudanese, the Ugandan Daily Monitor reported Wednesday.
Speaking on South Sudan Television in the capital Juba, Gen Kiir said LRA should end its acts of terrorism against the Sudanese. He said if LRA remains a threat to peace in South Sudan, he would be compelled to mobilize the military and civil society to rise against the marauding rebels.
“If we realize that the LRA are a threat to the civil population, this is not the responsibility of Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA) alone, the Equatorial Defence Forces, other armed forces and everybody with a gun and the civilian population should join hands with the SPLA and hunt them down,” Gen Kiir said during his televised tour of Torit region which has suffered a spate of road ambushes by suspected LRA.
Gen Kiir said the LRA issue is a big challenge to peace and stability in South Sudan. “The LRA is a foreign force which should not be causing the suffering of our people. If they don’t stop their atrocities, we shall look for them and deal with them,” he said in a speech telecast in Arabic.
However, LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti told Daily Monitor by telephone yesterday that they are neither scared of Gen Kiir nor his planned action.
“We are not scared of Kiir’s planned mass action because ever since our people entered Owiny-Kibul (one of two designated assembly points), that action has been happening,” Otti said, adding; “They are trying to force us into something we don’t want and we shall not accept this. We are not going to fire at the Sudan soldiers until they fire at us.” An angry Otti said LRA won’t be intimidated. “They called us to Sudan, so why chase us? We are ready for them in whatever way,” he said.
Gen Kiir’s remarks come hot on the heels of LRA’s fallout with the Khartoum government and the South Sudan mediators in Juba. The rebels said they would not continue talks with the Ugandan government – which have been going on under South Sudan’s mediation in Juba since July – unless another country is found to host them. They want Kenya or South Africa as alternative venues, a demand the government of Uganda has roundly rejected.
The rebels claim they are concerned about their security after Sudanese President Umar Hassan al-Bashir vowed to “get rid of the LRA from Sudan.” “We are prepared to constitute a joint force to eliminate the LRA. We do not want them. If we cannot find a peaceful solution to the LRA conflict, then we must pursue a military solution,” Mr Bashir said on 9 January.
The LRA said they are still committed to peace talks to end the 20-year rebel insurgency but that nothing Khartoum can say or do will lure them back to negotiations in South Sudan.
“We are not going to Juba anymore and we don’t want Riek (Machar the mediator) because he is not neutral on this (talks). For Riek to resume (mediation), it is as good as President Yoweri Museveni taking over because he is controlling Riek to get his way against us,” Otti said.
The rebels have waged a two-decade-long war against the Ugandan government, killing hundreds and displacing at least 1.6 million people in northern Uganda.
Speaking on national television, Gen Kiir, however, expressed optimism that the peace negotiations, although boycotted by the LRA at the moment, hold the key to an end to the 20-year insurgency in northern Uganda.
(The Daily Monitor)