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Sudanese president to begin rare visit to Uganda amid tense relations

Xinhua, May 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will starting a rare visit to Uganda on Thursday for talks with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, Sudan Tribune reported Wednesday.

Al-Bashir is to review with Museveni a number of joint issues, including security files under exchanged accusations of hosting and supporting rebel groups in the two countries, according to the report.

Khartoum has repeatedly accused Kampala of hosting the Sudanese rebels who are fighting the Sudanese government in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions, while Kampala accused Khartoum of hosting the leaders of the Lord Resistance Army (LAR) who are fighting the Ugandan army in northern Uganda and of providing them with military and logistical support.

Ties between Sudan and Uganda have been characterized by tension for about ten years, but a rare visit by the Ugandan president to Khartoum in September last year constituted a turning point in the relationship between the two countries.

The situation in South Sudan is also expected on the agenda of the talks between the two presidents.

Since the war broke out in South Sudan in 1983 between the Sudanese government and the South Sudanese rebels, the Sudan-Uganda relations have witnessed continued tension.

Khartoum has accused Uganda of supporting the rebels who fought the central government in Khartoum until 2005, when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed between Sudan and South Sudan.

After signing the CPA, which paved the way for the separation of South Sudan with the north in 2011, ties between Khartoum and Kampala have remained tense as Sudan continued accusing Uganda of seeking to control the newborn South Sudan.

As the civil war erupted in South Sudan in December 2013between the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit and defectors loyal to his former Vice-President Riek Machar, differences have deepened between Sudan and Uganda.

Uganda opted to support President Kiir and sent troops to fight alongside the South Sudanese army against the rebels, a move which prompted Khartoum's fears over the presence of Ugandan forces near Sudan's joint border with the south. Endit