Otti seeks treatment in Sudan

Jan 20, 2004

“BRIGADIER” Vincent Otti (right), the deputy Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) chief, is in Nisitu, southern Sudan where he fled with his group of wounded fighters after recent clashes with the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) in northern Uganda.

By Alfred Wasike

“BRIGADIER” Vincent Otti (right), the deputy Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) chief, is in Nisitu, southern Sudan where he fled with his group of wounded fighters after recent clashes with the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) in northern Uganda.

Intelligence sources in Sudan said he is now frantically seeking medical assistance for his injured lot from a Sudan Peoples Armed Forces (SPAF) detachment near Nisitu.

It is not yet clear whether Otti was also wounded. Otti and his fighters were dispersed after UPDF incursions into Sudan.

The New Vision has learnt that there were talks between Uganda and Sudan officials in Khartoum over fresh allegations that some SPAF soldiers were aiding the LRA against Uganda.

The sources said Uganda again requested Sudan to stop the soldiers from assisting the LRA.

The Sudanese officials promised to take Uganda’s request to defence minister Lt. Gen. Bakri Hassan Salih.

Uganda’s defence minister Amama Mbabazi on Friday told journalists at Bombo that Otti’s boss, Joseph Kony, was desperately looking for other sources to supply him with weapons after Sudan dumped him.

“The Government of Uganda is reasonably satisfied with the Sudanese Government’s cooperation, though Kony is back there. “We know that he still has some small contacts with elements in the Sudanese army, but President Omar Bashir said his government would ensure that those end too,” Mbabazi said.

He praised Sudan for promising to punish soldiers who were dealing with Kony.

Intelligence sources say Kony is holed-up in the Imatong Mountains between Kitpale and Katile in southern Sudan.

Mbabazi said Kony had ordered LRA commanders to return to Sudan.

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