Uganda expels Sudanese diplomat accused of espionage

October 2, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Uganda on Tuesday expelled a Sudanese diplomat after saying authorities had caught him trying to illegally get classified documents from government employees. But the embassy denied this information.

The Ugandan New Vision newspaper on Wednesday reported that a Sudanese diplomat, Jad-el-Seed Mohammed Elhag, was ordered on Monday to leave the country after he had been caught paying out money to an agent to secure classified information.

“He was a diplomat but was not behaving as one. He no longer conducted himself as a diplomat and had been cited in cases of espionage”, said Asuman Kiyingi, the Ugandan state minister for regional affairs .

The minister however said bilateral relations between the two countries remain unaffected by the incident.

Kampala and Khartoum have bad relations as they trade accusations of harbouring rebel groups.

The Sudanese government says the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebel groups who seek to overthrow the regime of president Omer Al-Bashir are based in Uganda and their elements are trained by the Ugandan army.

Ugandan officials, on the other hand, point that the fighters of the notorious Lord Resistance Army in the western Sudan region of Darfur as they are chased by the Ugandan army in the Central African Republic and other armies in the region.

Reached by the Ugandan government newspaper, the Sudanese ambassador in Kampala denied receiving any note about the expulsion of his diplomat. He added that his diplomat recalled by his government.

Elhag “had finished his work here and has something else to do in Sudan . We expect a replacement soon” the Sudanese ambassador said.

(ST)