Khartoum ends anti-LRA pact

The Sudanese government has withdrawn its permission for a Ugandan army offensive against Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in south Sudan.

The charge d'affaires at the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi, Muhammad Ahmed Dirdeiry, confirmed to IRIN on Wednesday that the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) would not be allowed to continue its 'Operation Iron Fist' against LRA targets on Sudanese territory. "They have been given enough time to do this job," he said.

The Ugandan army in March launched the offensive in an attempt to destroy LRA rear bases inside south Sudan. However, the operation has widely been viewed as having forced many LRA elements back into northern Uganda, where they have escalated attacks against civilian targets.

"The LRA are right now operating in northern Uganda. We haven't heard of them operating much in south Sudan for two months," Dirdeiry said.

The bilateral protocol which allowed Ugandan soldiers to operate in south Sudan was originally intended to last for just one month, but has been extended several times. The most recent extension expired on 14 September, and the two governments have been in consultations over the arrangement since.

"Following the capture of [LRA leader Joseph] Kony camps [in south Sudan] the Sudanese were making the point that we needed to re-define our area of operation. They were saying it was not necessary for us to be deep inside their territory," Ugandan Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi was quoted as saying by the government-owned 'New Vision' newspaper.

Mbabazi added that he had not yet received official communication form Khartoum on the issue.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries came under scrutiny last week after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni threatened to sever diplomatic ties with Khartoum over allegations that certain elements within the Sudanese government had resumed support for the LRA.

Sudan has denied supporting the LRA either directly or indirectly.

The start of Operation Iron Fist marked a thaw in relations between the two neighbours, and in April they agreed to re-establish full diplomatic ties. Relations had been severed in 1995, with Uganda accusing Sudan of providing support to the LRA, and Khartoum accusing the Ugandan government of backing the rebel Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army.

According to Dirdeiry, diplomatic relation between Uganda and Sudan were still "okay" despite Khartoum's decision to withdraw permission for the anti-LRA offensive.

The LRA, a group whose beliefs are rooted in Christian fundamentalist doctrines and traditional religions, has been fighting President Yoweri Museveni's government since 1987, with the aim of establishing its own rule based on the Biblical Ten Commandments.

The group has typically attacked villages in the north, forcing over 500,000 people to live in very poor conditions in camps for the internally displaced.