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Withdrawal of Troops – 2005

The 2005 CPA provides that all parties should work together to disarm, repatriate or expel foreign insurgency groups from Sudan as soon as possible. The biggest concern for the SPLM/A was the involvement of Lords Resistance Army- a rebel group from Uganda. Immediately after signing of the accord, the SPLA leader and first vice-president Col. John Garang said that the LRA and its leader Joseph Kony had to leave South Sudan.[fn]”Sudan’s Garang says Ugandan rebel leader must leave,” BBC Monitoring Africa, January 11, 2005.[/efn_note] As a matter of fact, on 14 January 2005, the SPLM gave a 72 hour (14 January) ultimatum to the LRA to leave southern Sudan territories.¹ This ultimatum did not work. On 9 February 2005, the SPLA joined hands with the Ugandan army to hunt for LRA leader and his remaining cohorts in order to get rid of them if they did not negotiate peace with the Ugandan government.² The First Vice-President gave the 27 July evening deadline for Joseph Kony and his LRA cohorts to leave the southern Sudan.³ The LRA posed major obstacles in peace processes in southern Sudan and efforts to expel them were not successful in 2005.

1. “Ugandan Rebels Deadline to leave Sudan Ends on 14 January,” BBC Monitoring Middle East, January 14, 2005.
2. “Sudan, Uganda to Join Hands in Hunt for Rebel Leader: Official,” Xinhua General News Service, February 9, 2005.
3. “Sudan’s Garang Says to “Deal Firmly” with Ugandan Rebels,” BBC Monitoring Africa — Political, July 30, 2005.