Uganda, Sudan deal to pursue rebels expires

KAMPALA, Jan 5, 2004 (New Vision) — The protocol allowing Uganda to enter Sudan and hunt for Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, has expired.

Defence State Minister Ruth Nankabirwa yesterday said there was a need to extend the protocol “so that we continue to cooperate with Sudan to oust Kony.” The protocol expired on 31 December.

She said on telephone that the objectives of the protocol had to be achieved. “The main objective is to make sure that Kony is no more and that the people of southern Sudan and Uganda are at peace. “The protocol was giving responsibility to both countries to wipe out Kony.

We do not have to leave a vacuum, not until there is an able administration in southern Sudan which can take care of our fears,” Nankabirwa said. She added, “We are ready to work with any administration in southern Sudan to oust the LRA.” She said even if the SPLA and the Sudan Peoples’ Armed Forces signed a peace agreement “we can request for an extension of the protocol so that the UPDF [Uganda People’s Defence Forces] can operate from southern Sudan.”

She said one of the clauses gave the Sudan government the responsibility to capture Kony if he was found beyond the red line, which UPDF is not supposed to cross, but it was amended and the UPDF was allowed to go past the line.