New agreement to re-establish full diplomatic ties

Uganda and Sudan have agreed to re-establish full diplomatic ties, which were severed in 1995 as each country accused the other of backing rebel groups, and to appoint full ambassadors to each other's countries, according to a joint government statement on Saturday. Ugandan Foreign Minister James Wapakhabulo and Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il agreed in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, on Friday to "upgrade the level of diplomatic representation between their countries to the level of ambassadors, and to establish a joint ministerial committee" to supervise bilateral relations, the joint communique stated. The Ugandan government agreed, according to Saturday's joint declaration in Kampala, "to expedite and maximise the Ugandan factor in the realisation of a sustainable peace in southern Sudan under the umbrella of IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development]." Sudan and Uganda also agreed to continue to work towards peace and economic development within the IGAD member-states (comprising Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, as well as Sudan and Uganda), and to look for an appropriate mechanism to do so, it added. Since October 2001, President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya - chairman of the IGAD sub-committee on peace in Sudan - has limited the participation of other IGAD countries in the process, and Uganda has not objected, apparently out of deference to Moi, according to a close observer of the peace process. In Saturday's statement, Khartoum and Kampala also announced their agreement "to extend their cooperation and coordinate with each other in the multilateral sphere, and to discuss in advance their respective positions with each other, in case of difference, before taking any action." This meant that the two countries had effectively "buried the hatchet" over differences that emerged following Uganda's decision to back a recent UN Human Rights Commission resolution urging Sudan to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdiery, charge d'affaires at the Sudanese embassy in Kenya, told IRIN on Monday. Uganda was the only African country to vote in favour of the 19 April resolution (adopted by a vote of 25 in favour and 24 opposed, with four abstentions), which expressed concern over human rights abuses in Sudan, including the use of children as soldiers, forced displacement, arbitrary detention, torture, and summary and arbitrary executions. "That issue has been completely sorted out. We really have buried the hatchet," Dirdiery said. "It was made very clear in the communique we issued that the two countries will coordinate and cooperate on multilateral affairs. This means we have revised the earlier position," he added. Khartoum had earlier requested an explanation from Uganda of its vote, especially bearing in mind that Sudan was "helping them fight terrorism in their own country" by allowing the Ugandan army battle the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) inside Sudan. Although the LRA was an outgrowth of the "spiritualist" movement of Alice Lakwena which emerged in northern Uganda in the mid-1980s, by 1995 it began operating from Sudan with the support of the government there as Khartoum sought to get back at Uganda for its support of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), according to observers. Conditions began to change in the wake of the 11 September 2001 events, the Washington-led international coalition against terrorism and Washington's classification of the LRA as a terrorist organisation. This, in turn, was instrumental in the government of Sudan ending its support of the organisation, diplomatic sources told IRIN. Dirdiery said on Monday that the restoration of ambassador-level diplomatic ties between Uganda and Sudan (envoys having been exchanged in July 2001) would not only improve cooperation between the two countries but was also a major boost to regional peace efforts. "In the past, we had many problems in the region, but both countries have understood that they have to approach all their problems openly, and also in a global fashion," he added. Dirdiery said an improvement in diplomatic relations would greatly enhance the countries' cooperation on dealing with the LRA and the SPLA, but that Khartoum would "not necessarily" exert pressure on Uganda to reciprocate on the SPLM/A issue in the same fashion as it had allowed Kampala deal with the LRA. "We are dealing with the LRA issue in the manner which both countries have deemed fit. We are also determined to approach the SPLA issue, but we can't deal with the SPLA issue in the same way we have done with LRA," he said. Sudan is urging Kampala to pressure the SPLA to accept a comprehensive ceasefire, something to which the rebels are opposed without a comprehensive political settlement, according to regional observers. Donor countries, notably the US, are also emphasising heavily the need for an expansion to other areas of Sudan of the present, locally agreed and renewable ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains area of Southern Kordofan, they said. Ugandan-Sudanese relations have improved significantly in recent months, especially after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni met Sudanese President Umar Hasan al-Bashir for the first time in years at a summit in Khartoum in January. Now, although no "special relationship" or significant neighbourly friendship is expected between the two countries in the near future, the time may be ripe for modest improvements as Sudan and Uganda learn to live with each other, and to make necessary, but minor, adjustments, according to regional analysts.