Kazini Arrests Iso Officers

By Vision reporter Army chief Maj. Gen. James Kazini has rounded up officers of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) in Gulu, accusing them of insubordination, sources said yesterday. Arrested on Sunday afternoon were regional ISO chief Kibrai Ambaku, his deputy K. Loti and the district ISO chief John Odong.Sources said the officers were stripped and put under a tight 24-hour guard in a bush outside Gulu town. The reason for their detention was unclear.One source said Kazini accused the officers of leaking classified military secrets to the public, especially the press without consulting the military. Kazini reportedly suspected that the ISO officers leaked to the press the shooting and wounding of Vincent Otti, the Lord’s Resistance Army chief Joseph Kony’s deputy.The source said Kazini last Sunday ordered two Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) staff and junior army officers to establish the whereabouts of Otti. They were also given a go-ahead to exhume bodies in the mass graves the army recently discovered near a scene of battle between the UPDF and the rebels.The source said Kazini was irked when the three ISO officers refused to put on military uniforms and join the team. Relatives of the arrested officers have complained but the army has remained tight-lipped on the issue. But a military source acknowledged the arrests.Other sources said Kazini’s arrest order comes after a simmering difference between UPDF officers and three officers reportedly over how to handle Kony rebels, especially the rebel commanders ready to surrender.This source said recently the ISO staff established good contacts with rebel commanders Tolbert Yardin Nyeko, Okello Matata and Charles Tabuley.Sources said soon after Nyeko sent emissaries to regional internal security organisation’s office two weeks ago, another rebel commander in charge of the Stokree brigade, Okello Matata, got in contact with the ISO staff. Matata is bed-ridden with AIDS in Kilak hills.The ISO staff are said to have supplied AIDS drugs to Okello Matata in fulfilment for abandoning the rebellion. Despite Joseph Kony’s opposition, some rebel commanders are said to be making contacts with various government officials.Other sources said Tabuley received from the security sh10m to secure the release of three aid workers of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) who were abducted by the rebels on August 5 in Achol-pii refugee camp in Pader district. The sources said Tabuley only declared sh2m to Kony and gave the balance to his relatives in Palabek, Lamwo county in Kitgum.“This behaviour of Tabuley is a clear indication that the rebel commanders no longer fear Kony and the LRA future is bleak,” the source said.Ends