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Uganda contains diplomatic row with Khartoum over army chief’s alleged threats

December 25, 2010 (NAIROBI) – The already-strained diplomatic relations between Khartoum and Kampala have slumped into a new row over statements in which Uganda’s army chief reportedly warned north Sudan that his country would support the south if the referendum on its independence is obstructed.

Nearly half a century of intermittent civil war between north and south Sudan ended in 2005 when the two sides signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which provided for a referendum vote on the independence of south Sudan in January 2011.

The south is widely expected to vote for secession amid fears that Khartoum, which is campaigning for unity, may not accept the results.

Sudan on Friday summoned the Ugandan charge de affaires in Khartoum, Mr Nelson Kasigiri, to question him on the veracity of threats issued against Khartoum by the chief of Uganda’s army Nyakairima who was quoted by the Ugandan Daily Monitor newspaper last week as warning that Uganda would back South Sudan if war breaks out over the referendum.

“The referendum is coming, should it go the other way, we shall not tolerate Sudanese planes bombing Moyo and Adjumani districts again,” the general allegedly said, in reference to the 1990s air raids in the border region which Uganda blamed on Sudan Air forces

“If the referendum results get positive as expected” the general added “we shall be interested to say to Khartoum, goodbye.

The Sudanese ambassador in Kampala, Hussain Awad Ali, expressed Khartoum’s fury over the general’s statement, terming them as “an awkward interference in Sudan’s internal affairs.”

“How can a senior army officer interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign country where there is no territorial claim by either country on the other’s side? It’s really an astonishing statement,” he said in an interview with the Daily Monitor.

Meanwhile, Ugandan diplomats said they had succeeded in resolving the “perceived misunderstandings” after they held a meeting with Ambassador Hussain Ali.

Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary James Mugume told the Daily Monitor that the situation had been resolved after they explained to the Sudanese ambassador that Nyakairima was “quoted out of context.”

Ambassador Mugume said that his country would maintain open channels of communication with Khartoum and that Uganda wants to see the referendum “conducted on time and respect whatever the outcome.”

Sudanese officials repeatedly accused Kampala of being overtly supportive of south Sudan secession.

(ST)

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