S. Sudan rebel spokesperson abducted in Uganda, released

August 19, 2017 (KAMPALA) – Unknown armed men briefly abducted South Sudan rebel spokesman, Paul Lam Gabriel in Uganda, but was released after the police intervened, the official told Sudan Tribune Saturday.

He accused South Sudan government of allegedly being behind his abduction by a group said to have comprised of six men and a lady.

Lam claimed South Sudan embassy officials in Uganda could have hired the abductors whose motive was to forcefully deport him back to South Sudan, where a civil war has raged on for over four years.

Ambrose Lomin, a rebel representative in Kampala, confirmed Lam’s brief arrest, thanking Ugandan police authorities for their shift action.

“We welcome the Ugandan authority’s role towards the speedy action to bring our colleague back. This is a good sign that Uganda is a law abiding country that respects individual right,” said Lomin.

Lam, according the official, was kidnapped using a South Sudanese embassy vehicle before he was allegedly shifted to a silver-colored car.

Among the abductors was reportedly a man in a military uniform.

Uganda police authorities confirmed the official’s abduction in a separate interview.

South Sudan descended into civil war in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy, Riek Machar of attempting a coup. Machar denied the accusation and launched a rebel movement.

The South Sudanese rebel leader, who currently remains exiled in South Africa, says he does not recognize President Kiir’s government.

Last year, Machar’s spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, was arrested by Kenyan authorities and deported to South Sudan last year from Nairobi. He has been seen in solitary confinement in a prison in Juba.

The South Sudanese conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million civilians in less than five years.

(ST)