By Tom Mugisha, tom.mugisha@alleastafrica.com
KAMPALA – Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir will arrive in Uganda on Sunday for three-day state visit that is seen a move to strengthen relations between Uganda and Sudan, officials say.
The deputy press secretary to President Museveni, Linda Nabusayi says Presdient Bashir will hold bilateral talks with Museveni during his visit.
Among the issues Museveni and Bashir will discuss, is the ongoing efforts to resolve the conflict in South Sudan.
Relations between Sudan and Uganda had been sour with mutual accusations of supporting rebels groups. Uganda had accused Khartoum of supporting the LRA which operated in in South Sudan’s Western Equatorial and in the neighbouring countries of Congo and the CAR.
Sudan was also accused Uganda of supporting rebels that had been fighting Khartoum government. The former US President Jimmy Carter tried to mediate a peace accord between Sudan and Uganda in 1999, in which the two countries agreed to take steps to restore diplomatic relations and promote peace in the region. But this peace accord seemed to have not worked and since then there has been little by way of serious bilateral relations between the two nations.
Museveni and Bashir have since 2015 been trying to forge mutual cooperation and positions towards regional and global issues.
They have in the past stressed the need revitalize political and diplomatic coordination to counter challenges that face the region.
President Omar al-Bashir last visited Uganda in May 2016 to attend the swearing in of President Museveni for the current term in office.
Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
