Sudanese ambassador to Uganda Sirajuddin Hamid Yousuf has denied reports that the Sudanese government ferried weapons to Uganda's rebel People's Redemption Army (PRA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Uganda's weekly Sunday Vision reported that Sudan airlifted rifles in July 2004 to PRA bases in the troubled Ituri region in the DRC.

Yousuf was quoted Monday by The New Vision newspaper as saying that "there are no bases for the information you said you have received. How could weapons be ferried from Sudan to DRC? Using which water course? My assessment of the information you talked about is that it is poor intelligence and a desperate attempt to take the two countries back to the state of cold war years ago."

"The Sudanese embassy totally and categorically denies as baseless any information regarding ferrying arms to DRC. At least if there is any such illicit arms activity in the captioned area, the government of Sudan is not a party," he said.

Sources quoted prisoners of war recently captured by the Sudan People's Liberation Army as telling Sunday Vision that "Sudan airlifted rifles from Sudan to DRC for arming some Ugandans who are there under training."

The sources said the trainers were linked to Col. Kizza Besigye,exiled leader of an opposition party named Reform Agenda. The Ugandan army said that they are investigating it. Uganda and Sudan once accused each other of backing the anti-government forces and as a result Uganda severed its diplomatic relations with Sudan in 1995 and the diplomatic ties were restored in 2001.

Source: Xinhua