"Members of parliament also quoted Museveni as saying in a closed-door speech to parliament that Sudan had resumed the support and he would teach Khartoum a "lesson" if it persisted."
Uganda openly accuses Sudan army of backing rebels
By Paul Busharizi
BOMBO, Uganda (Reuters) - Uganda for the first time openly accused Sudan Friday of resuming support for northern rebels in violation of a border cooperation pact, but said it would talk to Khartoum next month to resolve the matter.
"Our information is that the rebels have set up new camps near and beyond Sudan army lines," Uganda's military intelligence chief Colonel Noble Mayombo told reporters, referring to the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.
"This intelligence we did not get from them (Sudanese authorities). If the intelligence exchange had been there, the LRA may have been defeated by now."
One of Africa's strangest rebel movements, the LRA has fought a 17-year insurgency against the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and is feared for its habit of abducting children for use as child soldiers and sex slaves.
In March last year Uganda and Sudan signed a protocol allowing Ugandan troops to hunt LRA fighters in southern Sudan, marking an end to Khartoum's support for the rebels which included permission for the rebels to have bases in Sudan.
But earlier this week former child soldiers who gave themselves up to the army told members of parliament that LRA leaders had moved their headquarters to southern Sudan from northern Uganda and had been receiving arms and supplies from the Khartoum government in recent months.
Members of parliament also quoted Museveni as saying in a closed-door speech to parliament that Sudan had resumed the support and he would teach Khartoum a "lesson" if it persisted.
The Sudanese embassy in the Ugandan capital Kampala denied the accusations, which they said were based on hearsay.
Uganda's state defense minister Ruth Nankabirwa told a news conference officials of the two countries would discuss the matter at a meeting in Khartoum in October.
More than 14,000 Ugandan troops backed by tanks, artillery and helicopter gunships were deployed in the north last year to fight the rebels but have so far failed to defeat them.
09/12/03 13:32 ET
