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UPDF Pulls Back in Sudan

New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
November 15, 2006
Posted to the web November 15, 2006

By John Odyek
Kampala
The UPDF has withdrawn from Magwi, Palutaka and Tibika in South Sudan,
following a directive from President Yoweri Museveni.
The withdrawal took place on Monday to enable the success of the Juba peace
talks, according to a UPDF statement released yesterday.
The LRA rebels had refused to assemble in designated places, citing the
presence of the UPDF there.
Owiny Ki-Bul and Ri-Kwangba were designated assembly sites for LRA fighters
after the signing of a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement on August 26 between
the Government and the rebels.
Last month, LRA deputy leader Vincent Otti and the Cessation of Hostilities
Monitoring Team accused the UPDF of being near Owiny-Kibul.
The LRA also claimed the area was mined.
"We have, therefore, withdrawn from Magwi, Palutaka and Tibika to further
facilitate the success of the peace talks.
We shall continue to fully support the peace process going on in Juba for the
sake of our people in northern Uganda," UPDF spokesman Maj. Felix Kulayigye,
said in the statement.
"This is additional testimony to our resolve to end the conflict in the
northern part of our country. Like we have always said, the UPDF will continue
to guarantee security to all Ugandans and their property," he said.
"We also wish to reassure our people in the north that the peace so far
attained is irreversible. It remains our hope that the LRA will conform to the
cessation of Hostilities Agreement and assemble in Ri-kwangba and Owiny Ki-
Bul."
Five LRA top leaders, including Kony and Otti, were indicted last year by the
International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
In an ultimatum in October, Otti vowed that his forces would not go to Owiny
Ki-Bul.
The rebels also demanded for more time in which their scattered forces in South
Sudan and northern Uganda could move to Ri-Kwangba, a shanty outpost at the DR-
Congo-Sudan border, as their preferred assembly point.
On October 25, the peace talks hit a snag after the Government rejected the LRA
proposal to assemble only at Ri-Kwangba.
Uganda asked the South Sudan government to stop supplying food and other items
to rebels outside the assembly points.


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