UGANDA TO STAND BY SOUTHERN SUDAN IN CASE OF FULL SCALE WAR
Information is circulating in Kampala that the rogue regime of ICC wanted alleged war criminal Bashir in Khartoum has stepped up contacts with the LRA which leadership is also wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity and may be funneling material support to the terror group in an effort to open up new proxy fronts.
Ugandas Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Aronda Nyakairima has in an address to colleagues from the wider region earlier in the week also left little doubt, that Uganda would come to the aid of Southern Sudan to avoid another genocide, should the regime in Khartoum continue with its aggression against an independent African country. Gen. Aronda was quoted in local media as having said: We will not sit by and do nothing. We will be involved having suffered a proxy war by Khartoum. Our people in northern Uganda suffered and intelligence information also indicates that the LRA, who have an estimated 200 guns, are again in contact with Khartoum. The comments echo President Musevenis own declaration some years earlier, that Uganda would never let another genocide happen again, following the events in Rwanda 18 years ago and also lent credibility to ongoing speculation, following large scale joint war games by the East African militaries with their Southern Sudanese counterparts inside that country last year. Since then it is rumoured that one form of mutual pact or another has been struck between Juba and Kampala, if not other capitals too, to help the newly independent country in case Khartoum would want to make a play for the oilfields, now largely located in the Southern Sudan. Gen. Arondas comments are the first official reactions following Bashirs announcement in Khartoum on Wednesday, that he was set to liberate the Southern Sudan, in other words grab back the oil and other mineral riches while inflicting ethnic cleansing of major proportions on the Africans living in the South after breaking free from his hardline slavist oppression.
It was also learned that Juba, contrary to misleading press reports in sections of the global media, was ready for a ceasefire on condition that the illegal occupation of Abyei by Khartoum forces would have to end and that a UN peacekeeping force be installed to pave the way for a referendum on Abyeis future, something likely to be extended then too to South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
Kenya too is thought to consider a response, and although statements have been made to the effect that the UN has to inject a contingent to create a buffer zones between the two countries, it is generally understood that Kenya, come push to shove, will also side with Juba in what could be the precursor to a wider regional conflict including Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, with Khartoum considered a strong backer of the hardline regime in Asmara, which in turn stands accused of propping up the Al Shabab terrorists in Somalia.
Meanwhile have reports come to light of recent large scale elephant poaching in Congos Garamba National Park, a suspected hideout of LRA terrorists, which would support the speculation that the outlawed rebel group was using blood ivory to make down-payments on new supplies although weapons and ammunition appear to be freely given by Khartoum in an attempt to stir more trouble in the region. A revival of the LRA would also pose a challenge to the United States which has about 100 logistics and support troops in the region aimed to support Ugandan troops on the ground to hunt down Joseph Kony and bring him to justice, or else inflict a Jonas Savimbi solution on him should he not surrender when cornered. Watch this space to find out if pressure can be brought to bear on Khartoum to pull back from the brink of war, unlikely as that may be considering that this may be Bashirs last gamble before he himself faces a coup detat by regime hardliners who blame him for losing the oil rich South.
