Sudan announces support for Uganda opposition ……
and threatens to close Embassy in Khartoum – By Nangayi Guyson in Kampala, Uganda – Sudanese government announced that it is in preparation of closing Uganda’s Embassy in Khartoum and forming alliance with opposition groups in Uganda to topple president Musveni’s government. Sudan’s newspapers reported on Sunday.
The speaker of the country’s national assembly Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir said that Sudanese government is working with forces in Uganda that are opposed to President Yoweri Museveni to bring about positive political influence to the country but did not mention which opposition groups or parties Sudan is working with.
Uganda Foreign affairs Minister Sam Kutesa, said the country has no intentions of over throwing the Sudanese government and is not supporting any rebel group to change regime there. He added that even if Sudan supports opposition groups in the country, it will have no chance to succeed in it.
Khartoum has lodged several complaints with the African Union (AU) and other regional blocs against Uganda saying it is supporting regime change in Sudan.
Sudan’s reactions come after this year rebel forces and opposition groups signed an accord in Kampala last January calling for toppling the regime of president Omer Hassan al-Bashir.
The relationship between Sudan and Uganda deteriorated some years back when Kampala accused Khartoum of supporting the rebel Lord Resistance Army (LRA) which operates in South Sudan’s Western Equatorial and neighbouring countries of Congo and Central African Republic.
In May 2012 Museveni said they have intelligence that LRA rebels were planning a major offensive and warned Sudan over reports saying they received weapons from Sudan but shed denied the allegations.
To mount pressure on Khartoum to stop its alleged support to the LRA rebels, Uganda since more than 2 years opened its territory for various Sudanese rebel groups who are now based in Kampala.
Two years ago US President Obama authorized the deployment of approximately 100 well equipped US troops to Uganda to help regional forces capture or kill – Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and senior leaders of the LRA but since then there is no hope that they may come closer to him.
Sudan had admitted in the past using the LRA rebels to fight the insurgency in southern Sudan before the signing of a peace agreement in January 2005 with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) which was supported by the Ugandan government.
The SPLM are now the governing party of South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in July 2011.
Sudan president Al-Bashir , a controversial figure both in Sudan and worldwide was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.
