South Sudan E. Equatoria governor orders Ugandan rebels out
Feb 8, 2007 (JUBA) — A south Sudanese state governor has ordered Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels living in southern Sudan to leave, accusing them of attacking Sudanese civilians.
A group of LRA rebels was permitted to stay in south Sudan near the Ugandan border under a landmark truce with the Kampala government and south Sudanese mediators while peace talks continue in its capital, Juba.
Another group, including the top leadership, is believed to be camped out on the Sudan/Congo border.
But peace talks stalled last month after the rebels said they would no longer negotiate in Juba, fearing for their security after Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened to “get rid of the LRA from Sudan.”
The rebels have said they want another venue for talks, in Kenya or South Africa, but will never negotiate in Sudan.
“They have refused to go back to the peace talks, there is no reason for them to be here, they should leave,” governor of Eastern Equatoria state, Aleisio Ojetuk, told Reuters.
Under a ceasefire signed in August and renewed in December, the rebels had until the end of last month to assemble in two places in south Sudan, but they have repeatedly missed deadlines to do so, accusing Uganda’s army of besieging them.
Analysts say Sudanese officials are becoming increasingly impatient with the LRA’s presence in south Sudan, blaming them for a spate of killings and lootings near Juba.
“The LRA are devastating my state. They have laid ambushes, killed our people, looted property, burnt trucks and are intimidating people,” Ojetuk said.
He did not say whether south Sudan’s army would use force to push the LRA out.
LRA deputy leader Vincent Otti vowed on Tuesday to resume an offensive against the government unless Kampala agreed to move peace talks to a new venue outside south Sudan.
Aid agencies fear that if LRA fighters leave Sudan and re-enter Uganda they could once again wreak havoc on a population already weary from a 20-year war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced 1.7 million into squalid camps.
The rebels are notorious for killing civilians, hacking lips and noses off victims and kidnapping children.
(Reuters)