Uganda says position not changed on Sudan or Darfur

June 26, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Ugandan embassy in Sudan issued a statement in the wake of remarks made by President Yoweri Musievini in which were criticized by government officials here.

Musievini had said that the international community needs to take tough measures against the perpetrators of violence in Darfur. He criticized what he described as “Arab chauvinism against African sovereignty’.

“Darfur is a real problem to Africa; the international community must find a quick solution. Africans are being displaced from their land,” Musievini said.

Sudan criticized the remarks describing Musievini as someone who is trying to “please the west”.

The Ugandan embassy said in a press release that Musievini’s remarks does not reflect a change in position and that they are similar to that of the African Union (AU).

The embassy said that the AU and even Sudan share the conviction that those behind the crimes committed in Darfur should be held responsible.

“The conflict has caused massive displacement and a humanitarian situation which needs international effort” the statement reads.

Uganda had backed the AU position against the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

However, Uganda’s position on the issue appeared ambiguous as Musievini said last March that he wants neither to “condemn Bashir” nor “condone his actions”.

The embassy rejected Sudan’s description of Musievini statements as “unbalanced” saying that he has always been a proponent of Africans solving their own problems and that Uganda demonstrated its support publicly and privately through meetings with Bashir personally.

Furthermore the statements dismissed claims that Musievini was trying to please the west saying that the Ugandan president have held “strong and independent position on many issues which are in direct contract with the views of Europeans or the West” citing the example of Musievini’s stance on the right of all nations to utilize nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

On the remarks pertaining to “Arab chauvinism” the embassy said they were “taken out of context and grossly misinterpreted”.

“The president intended to highlight the need for all Africans, regardless of their descent…to live together anywhere in Africa without any race trying to impose their culture or ways of life on the other”.

The embassy emphasized that relations between the two countries “are excellent” with a desire on both sides to strengthen them further.

(ST)