Ugandan army to redeploy in southern Sudan for rebel leader

KAMPALA, Feb 4, 2004 (Xinhua) — The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) is to redeploy inside southern Sudan to pursue Joseph Kony’ s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, Army Commander Aronda Nyakairima has said.

Speaking at the launching of this year’s Army Week on Tuesday, Nyakairima said that “this dry season, we are going back to the Sudan to attack Kony. He is a terrorist who has subjected our people to a lot of suffering in the north and Teso (eastern ) region.”

He said the army had been strengthening its mobile forces in preparation for the offensive, which begins later this month.

“Kony had been a problem for the UPDF and we are dealing with him seriously although he recently managed to sneak back into the Sudan but we know where he is and we are going for him,” the army commander said.

This will be the ninth time the Ugandan army is moving into the Sudan to pursue the rebels.

The Sudan first allowed Uganda to pursue the rebels into her territory in March 2002.

This year’s Army Week is the 23rd annual event celebrated by the Ugandan army to mark Feb. 6, founding day of the Ugandan army in 1981.