Sudan does not support LRA rebels: Ugandan security official

October 1, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – the Director General of External Security Organisation, Joseph Okello Ocwet, said Sudan does no longer support the rebel Lord Resistance Army (LRA), saying they have good relations with the

In statements to Alsudani newspaper published on Monday, Ocwet said that LRA leader Joseph Koni is no more a threat to the security of Uganda.

He further stressed that the two security apparatus in Kampala and Khartoum have enhanced their cooperation stressing that Sudan does not support the LRA rebels.

Last April, Uganda announced the end of the search operations in the Central African Republic (CAR) against the LRA fighters known for their brutality and for kidnapping children for use as fighters and sex slaves.

Koni who was first based in the northern part of Uganda and South Sudan fled into eastern CAR. During the recent years, it was reported that Khartoum harboured the rebel leader in a remote area in Darfur near the border with the CAR.

However, in a deal sealed last December with the Sudan, the U.S. among other asked Sudan to stop any support to the LRA group before to lift permanently economic sanctions.

Ocwet statements come less than two weeks before a decision on this respect.

The Ugandan official, also, said his government does not harbour Sudanese rebel leaders who were there, adding that those who visit the country come within the framework of the efforts exerted by his government to end the armed conflicts in the Two Areas and Darfur.

(ST)