Khartoum denies backing Ugandan rebels

Sudan has strongly denied accusations, made on Monday by the Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative (ARLPI) in northern Uganda, that the Sudanese army is continuing to arm the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group. The Sudanese consul in Uganda, Hasan Yusuf Ngor, told IRIN that the accusations were "baseless". "It is mere propaganda by those with an interest in derailing the peace process between the two governments. When we took action to fight the LRA alongside Uganda, it was a clear and strong commitment." A statement issued by the ARLPI leaders said that since the second half of 2002, "members of the Sudanese Armed Forces have been delivering truckloads of military assistance to the LRA in Nsitu", including "arms, ammunition and other items". The accusation was based on testimonies from "six different returnees from the LRA" who had come out of the bush under amnesty in the months between February and June, the statement said. All of them had been with the rebel group for between seven to 10 years, were aged between 18 and 30, and had held ranks ranging between sergeant and major. "We always had our suspicions when we kept seeing the LRA with new uniforms and new guns," Father Carlos Rodriguez Soto, a key figure in the ARLPI’s efforts to bring about peace through dialogue, told IRIN. "But we didn’t have enough to be sure. Now, with each independent report coming from the bush saying the same thing, we know for a fact that they [the SAF] are doing this." However, Ngor dismissed the accounts. "The so-called eyewitness reports are not even consistent with themselves," he said. "They say that a fresh batch of weapons was delivered last month; then they give evidence from events that happened last year." The Ugandan army spokesman, Maj Shaban Bantariza, told IRIN that similar reports to the one compiled by the religious leaders were also available from other sources. "We have many credible, independent sources telling us the same thing, including people we ourselves have recovered from the LRA." "We are going to take action in a calm, measured fashion," he added. "We shall present the evidence to the Sudanese government, and request an explanation from them. We already have an arrangement within which we can do this." Ngor said the Sudan government was open to hearing any such alleged evidence. "We will listen, and certainly any officer caught red-handed doing this kind of thing will be promptly court-martialled," he said. Following a peace pact signed between the Sudanese and Ugandan governments in 1999, both countries officially renounced supporting each other's rebels. Then in March 2002, as part of efforts to improve bilateral relations, Sudan allowed Uganda to enter the south of the country to pursue the LRA from its bases there in an operation dubbed Iron Fist. Observers say northern Uganda is currently facing the worst humanitarian crisis the region has ever seen. Food, health care, water, sanitation and shelter are all in short supply, as almost all humanitarian organisations who were working in the area have been forced out, unable to protect their staff from LRA attacks.