Sudan opens camps for LRA
Sudan and other Arab countries have opened two new camps for LRA rebels in Juba, a captured bodyguard of the rebel’s second in command has said.
By Emmy Allio and Dennis Ojwee
Sudan and other Arab countries have opened two new camps for LRA rebels in Juba, a captured bodyguard of the rebel’s second in command has said.
The 19-year-old guard whose bush name is David Okello said the camps are located in Nisitu, about three miles south of Juba.
Okello was bodyguard to Vincent Otti, Joseph Kony’s deputy. He said Kony named the camps Wat Odwogo (the relation is back) and Lubanga Odwogo (God is back).
Senior security chiefs said yesterday they suspected Khartoum’s plans to resume full aid to Kony when it barred Uganda military observers from Juba, preferring to keep them in Khartoum.
Uganda recalled its observers in Khartoum and asked Sudan to withdraw their observers from Kampala. However, a protocol signed between Uganda and Sudan in March 2002, allowing the UPDF to pursue Kony rebels inside Sudan, still stands.
The former bodyguard, now in custody in Gulu barracks, said a house was being renovated for Kony in Juba town. The UPDF has destroyed five rebel camps.
Okello said Kony’s new camp had 400 fighters and his family.
He said the Sudanese military was giving Kony intelligence on the UPDF. He said some children who escape from the LRA camps in Sudan find themselves in Sudanese army camps where they are sent back to Kony.
Sudan and other Arab countries have opened two new camps for LRA rebels in Juba, a captured bodyguard of the rebel’s second in command has said.
The 19-year-old guard whose bush name is David Okello said the camps are located in Nisitu, about three miles south of Juba.
Okello was bodyguard to Vincent Otti, Joseph Kony’s deputy. He said Kony named the camps Wat Odwogo (the relation is back) and Lubanga Odwogo (God is back).
Senior security chiefs said yesterday they suspected Khartoum’s plans to resume full aid to Kony when it barred Uganda military observers from Juba, preferring to keep them in Khartoum.
Uganda recalled its observers in Khartoum and asked Sudan to withdraw their observers from Kampala. However, a protocol signed between Uganda and Sudan in March 2002, allowing the UPDF to pursue Kony rebels inside Sudan, still stands.
The former bodyguard, now in custody in Gulu barracks, said a house was being renovated for Kony in Juba town. The UPDF has destroyed five rebel camps.
Okello said Kony’s new camp had 400 fighters and his family.
He said the Sudanese military was giving Kony intelligence on the UPDF. He said some children who escape from the LRA camps in Sudan find themselves in Sudanese army camps where they are sent back to Kony.