LJM rebels capture three LRA members in South Darfur
September 15, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Rebels from the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) detained three members of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in a remote area of South Darfur state, the group said today.
Following the attack, “we set up regular patrols in the area to prevent any surprise attack,” said LJM deputy chairman Abdulaziz Abu- Nummosha who was speaking to Sudan Tribune from Doha, the official venue of the peace talks.
On September 13 “One of our patrols clashed with a group of the LRA rebels and we captured three elements, two men from Uganda and a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Abu Nummosha further said.
The rebel LJM is the only group negotiating a peace deal with the Sudanese government in Doha. Earlier this month, Abu Nummosha suspected the Sudanese army of directing the LRA to attack their positions.
However, he said today the arrested LRA fighters “delivered valuable information confirming their connections with the Sudan Armed Forces”. They were “wearing SAF uniform”, and “they confessed being supported by the Sudanese army,” he stressed.
He said he will call in the coming days the leadership of his movement to meet to discuss their participation in the peace process because the Sudanese government continues to breach a ceasefire agreement they signed on March 18.
In March of this year, the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused Sudan of harboring LRA leader Joesph Kony in Darfur. Western observers who returned recently from the region told Sudan Tribune that the Ugandan rebels have little presence in Central African Republic and operate in small groups as they are tracked by the Ugandan army.
The three LRA members “informed us that they roam between Western Bahr el Ghazal and South Darfur since October 2009. They were not stable in a particular site., said LJM deputy leader.
“The woman told us she was kidnapped from eastern Congo in 2008,” and since she was recruited, he further added.
The rebel official affirmed the three LRA rebels are well treated and their fate will be determined at the end of the ongoing investigations.
(ST)