Uganda: Saving Somalia

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January2, 2007: The government said that it is prepared to send a battalion of infantry to Somalia to serve as peacekeepers. The battalion will have at least 1,000 soldiers, indicating that it is a battalion task force (ie, a battalion operating with attached support troops). In early December Uganda indicated it was willing to supply peacekeepers to an African Union-sponsored force in Somalia. A Ugandan contingent would provide more than peacekeepers. It would politically reinforce Somalia's Transitional Government. The Transitional Government contends that it is the internationally recognized Somali government (which it is). Ugandan participation would also take the "Ethiopian edge" off of the current war in Somalia. Uganda is a predominantly Christian country, but many Ugandans are Muslim (particularly the tribes living in northern and northwestern Uganda). Uganda is Kenya's neighbor to the west, while Somalia forms most of Kenya's eastern border.

December 31, 2006: The Ugandan government said that two of the most significant "achievements" in Uganda during the year 2006 were : (1) the successful test well in western Uganda which proved Uganda has oil reserves and (2) the peace process with the LRA. The government believes the peace process will ultimately end the "insurgency in the north" (ie, northern Uganda).

December 29, 2006: The government accused LRA rebels of attacking the Ugandan Peoples Defense Force's (UPDF �" the Ugandan Army) chief liaison officer in Juba, Sudan. The attack (called an ambush) took place on a road east of Juba. The UPDF officer was identified as Major Richard Otto. The statement said that Major Otto escaped the attack and wounded one of the rebel attackers. The LRA denied that its fighters had attacked Major Otto and insisted that a UPDF unit had attacked an LRA unit in southern Sudan. That said, both sides invoked the peace agreement (Cessation of Hostilities Agreement), indicating they intend to continue the peace process. LRA rebels are still filtering into the two south Sudan assembly areas.

 

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