Uganda seeks US military aid

Uganda wants the US to provide more logistical and intelligence support

Uganda has asked the United States for military assistance in its fight against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.

An advisor to the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni told BBC News Online that the call was made in the spirit of the continuing global war against terrorism, as the LRA is on the US list of terror groups.

But John Nagenda is emphatic that Uganda was not asking the US to send in troops to northern and eastern Uganda where the fighting is concentrated.

The Ugandan army has been fighting the LRA in northern Uganda since 1988, since when hundreds of thousands of people have been either displaced, maimed or killed.

The LRA often mutilates civilians and abducts children to either become fighters or sex slaves.

Terror money

"What we are asking the US to do is to provide us with logistical support and intelligence information," Mr Nagenda said.

"We have enough of our own soldiers to do the job."

The rebels chop off noses and ears

The US Government classified the LRA as a terror group shortly after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.

During his July 2003 tour of Africa, US President George W Bush warned that terrorists would not be permitted to operate out of the continent and pledged $150m to help African countries fight terror.

"Part of that money could be used to buy better armaments for the Uganda army," said Mr Nagenda.

Donor interference

The presidential advisor says that the call does not mean that the Ugandan army is unable to defeat the LRA rebels.

"Our greatest problem is that donors interfere with our budget by insisting that we should not spend more than 2% of our budget on defence," he said.

Uganda claims Joseph Kony (r) has crossed back into Sudan

He says that no country at war should be placed under such a condition.

Uganda recently accused neighbouring Sudan of supplying arms to the LRA rebels.

It also claimed that LRA leader Joseph Kony had finally crossed back into southern Sudan via the northern Ugandan town of Gulu to acquire more supplies. But the Sudanese Government denied the charges, saying that it had presented a comprehensive report to the Ugandan leader, showing Sudan was not providing weapons to the LRA rebels.