Uganda accuses Sudan of supporting LRA rebels
KAMPALA, July 01, 2004 (Xinhua) — The Ugandan army has accused the Sudanese troops of giving fresh support to Joseph Kony and hundreds of his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, The New Vision newspaper reported Thursday.
“The Sudan has violated the protocol we signed in April 2002 to help us wipe out Kony and his terrorism. We have reliable intelligence that he is being hidden in a safe haven only 2 km north of Nisitu, behind the Sudanese army defenses,” Uganda People ‘s Defense Forces (UPDF) Army Commander Lt. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima was quoted as saying.
The Ugandan army commander was on a morale boosting mission Tuesday at the UPDF anti-Kony tactical headquarters at Aruu Junction, 150 km from the Uganda-Sudan border.
Hundreds of UPDF combat-ready soldiers camped at Aruu Junction sang morale-rousing songs demanding a final order to march on Nisitu, “to finish Kony and return to our families.”
Nyakairima told the soldiers to be patient, saying that “our commander-in-chief has made contact with (the Sudanese) President Omar Al-Bashir, asking for an explanation for the breach of protocol and a solution.”
He also urged them to remain focused on the mission to destroy Kony.
“The Sudan’s forces have helped Kony to escape from us by crossing the Red Line into a safe haven,” he said.
The Red Line is a demarcation agreed by Uganda and the Sudan in 2002. The line runs from north of the Imatong and Acholi mountains in eastern Sudan to Nisitu, Juba and curves southwards along the eastern banks of River Nile.
“This is very frustrating. All the LRA footsteps cross the Red Line into Sudan army defenses. We hope that some sense prevails in the Khartoum government so they can respect the protocol and we can end this senseless war and embark on development. If the Sudan doesn’t help then we shall be forced to inform the United Nations among other solutions,” he added.
The LRA rebels headed by Kony, based in southern Sudan, have killed tens of thousands people and displaced over 1.6 million people in northern Uganda in a 18-year war. The UPDF entered the southern Sudan in 2002 to pursue the LRA rebels.