Extension of defence protocol delayed

The Sudanese and Ugandan governments have delayed extending a defence protocol because of a new situation created by the recent upsurge in fighting between the Khartoum authorities and rebels in southern Sudan, a senior Sudanese diplomat said on Thursday. Siajudin Hamid, the charge d'affaires at the Sudanese embassy in the Ugandan capital Kampala, told IRIN the two governments were still holding consultations on terms for extending the protocol. The document, signed in March, permitted the Ugandan army to pursue the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) inside Sudan, following improved relations between the two countries. "The parties are still negotiating the new terms of extension of the protocol, which will be finalised in the next few days," Hamid said. The Ugandan authorities confirmed last week that Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi had travelled to Khartoum to negotiate a possible extension of the protocol, which expired on 14 September. Fighting escalated in southern Sudan last month after the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) seized the key town of Torit from government control. Last week, the Sudanese army bombed a Ugandan military camp in southern Sudan which it said was situated close to SPLA targets. Speculation is mounting of rising tension between Sudan and Uganda, although the authorities have refused to comment. Meanwhile, Ugandan media reports claimed the Sudanese army had killed 12 LRA fighters who were attempting to take supplies from a Sudanese camp. "It was an offensive by them against our troops but they received a hard blow from our forces," Hamid told 'The New Vision', Uganda's government-owned newspaper. The LRA, which at one time received help from the Sudanese government, has since June this year stepped up its attacks on northern Uganda. The increased LRA attacks have been viewed as a retaliation against the March protocol.