Uganda denies the Sudan is supporting Ugandan rebels

KAMPALA, May 3, 2004 (Xinhua) — Uganda dismissed a recent report Monday that the Sudan is continuing its support for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, saying it’s satisfied by the Sudanese support to the Ugandan government.

The Ugandan Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued here Monday that Uganda has not received any information regarding any collaboration between the LRA and the Sudanese government in the last six months.

“It is a known fact that the LRA and its leader Joseph Kony has for over the years been living and operating from the Sudan and the government of Uganda and the government of the Sudan have since the restoration of the diplomatic relations in 2001 been engaged in diplomatic talks on improving relations between the two countries and on how best to deal with the LRA problem,” the statement said.

The dialog has culminated into several protocols that have enabled the Ugandan army to operate within the Sudan to flush out Kony, said the statement.

Uganda and the Sudan once accused each other of backing the anti-government forces and as a result Uganda severed its diplomatic relations with the Sudan in 1995. The Sudan and Uganda signed a military protocol in 2002, allowing Ugandan troops to operate in the southern part of the Sudan and rout Kony rebels from inside the country.

The LRA rebels have been fighting a 18-year war to topple the Ugandan government dominated by southerners, and claiming to fight for the northern Acholi tribe.

But the rebels have killed tens of thousands of civilians, abducted over 20,000 children as their porters, fighters and sex slaves and displaced more than 1.5 million people, most of whom from the Acholi tribe.

Since March, the Ugandan government forces have been pursuing the rebels in the southern Sudan after securing a green light from the Khartoum government.