South Sudan army denies military pact Ugandan army
March 1, 2007 (JUBA) — The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) dismissed reports published in February that it had signed a military pact with the Ugandan army to conduct military exercises and provide military training to the southern Sudan army.
According to Juba Post, the SPLA did not sign a military agreement with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as previously reported throughout Sudan and Ugandan media says SPLA Spokesman Maj-Gen Kuol Deim Kuol.
The purported agreement had angered Khartoum, and the Sudan embassy in Kampala calling it a violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). But the spokesman retorts that “there is no any agreement signed between the SPLA and Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) or any other organization to hunt for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in case war broke out again in northern Uganda”.
The SPLA added that Col Ador Deng Ador was officially sent by the SPLA command to attend a meeting between the SPLA and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) of the DRC, facilitated by the UPDF.
According to the spokesman, the Congolese FARDC want to re-deploy their troops to Congo’s Bazi village and the UPDF came in to facilitate the meeting. The border line of Bazi village between South Sudan and the DRC is not firmly designated and the SPLA has no direct contact with the FARDC.
The CPA and the interim constitution, Kuol added, gives both the SPLA and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) equal rights and obligations and considers both as Sudan’s National Armed Forces. The spokesman added that this means that the SPLA or SAF have the right to conclude pacts with any organization in the world, after the approval of the Joint Defence Board, consisting of equal numbers from both the SPLA and the SAF.
“The SPLA shall follow the legal procedures when we want to sign any pact in the future,” Kuol said. “Allow me to repeat that we have not yet signed any pact with anyone.”
Kuol says the SPLA will only seek a military solution if the peace talks fail and the LRA refuse to “peacefully quit” the territory of southern Sudan.
The SPLA patrol engaged the LRA after the Ugandan rebels stopped at gun-point two civilian lorries on 22 February, Kuol said. The shoot-out left one SPLA soldier injured.
(Juba Post)