Sudanese Official Explains Kony Aid
Jul 30, 2003
UGANDAN officials said on Tuesday that a visiting Sudanese minister had admitted that some Sudanese military officers had given assistance to LRA rebels and their leader, Joseph Kony,
UGANDAN officials said on Tuesday that a visiting Sudanese minister had admitted that some Sudanese military officers had given assistance to LRA rebels and their leader, Joseph Kony, without the knowledge of the Government in Khartoum, report Emmy Allio and agencies.
“They (Sudanese) conceded that some army officers had resumed contact with Kony for purely personal profit,†said a senior official who attended a meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and Sudan’s defence minister Bekri Hassan Salih.
“They said investigations were carried out after Uganda raised the matter and that individual officers named in the probe will be punished,†said the Ugandan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Salih gave Museveni a letter from his Sudanese counterpart, President Omar al-Beshir.
Last month, Museveni accused Khartoum of secretly arming the LRA, warning that its support for the rebels threatened to “fundamentally change the relationship†between the two neighbours.
Khartoum expressed “astonishment†over the accusation, which came four years after the two governments had signed a formal accord to normalise relations, pledging to end any support for each other’s rebel groups.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese ambassador to Uganda, Surajjudin Ahmed Yusuf, on Monday said the two persons who had allegedly been kidnapped on September 19, were former officers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) who were members of the family of Hassan Yusuf Nyor, the First Secretary to the Sudanese embassy in Kampala.
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“They (Sudanese) conceded that some army officers had resumed contact with Kony for purely personal profit,†said a senior official who attended a meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and Sudan’s defence minister Bekri Hassan Salih.
“They said investigations were carried out after Uganda raised the matter and that individual officers named in the probe will be punished,†said the Ugandan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Salih gave Museveni a letter from his Sudanese counterpart, President Omar al-Beshir.
Last month, Museveni accused Khartoum of secretly arming the LRA, warning that its support for the rebels threatened to “fundamentally change the relationship†between the two neighbours.
Khartoum expressed “astonishment†over the accusation, which came four years after the two governments had signed a formal accord to normalise relations, pledging to end any support for each other’s rebel groups.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese ambassador to Uganda, Surajjudin Ahmed Yusuf, on Monday said the two persons who had allegedly been kidnapped on September 19, were former officers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) who were members of the family of Hassan Yusuf Nyor, the First Secretary to the Sudanese embassy in Kampala.
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