KAMPALA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ruled out any intention to withdraw the Ugandan ambassador from Khartoum, days after Sudan had recalled its ambassador from Kampala.
"We will not be recalling our ambassador from Sudan," ministry spokesperson Fred Opolot told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
"We've not go to that situation. We are still watching to see how far the Sudanese government is going to take this issue," he added.
Sudan has recently recalled its Ambassador Hussein Awad Ali amid accusations for Uganda of harboring and sheltering Sudanese rebels.
"The contentious issue is that some Darfur families are in Uganda but this does not mean that the government in any way supports their activities," said Opolot.
He added that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has on several occasions explained to his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir that Uganda does not support rebel families.
Uganda and Sudan have had strained relations since the early 1990s when the two governments cut diplomatic relations amidst traded accusations of supporting rebels on both sides.
Addressing parliament last week, Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi admitted that relations between Uganda and Sudan "have never been warm."
He recalled that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had in 2013 urged both countries to work on improving their relation.
The OIC had sent a fact-finding mission to Uganda last August to validate Sudan's claims that Kampala was supporting rebels fighting the Khartoum government.
The same team later visited Sudan to validate counter claims by Uganda.
Spokesman Opolot told AA that the OIC fact-finding mission is expected to return soon for a second leg of their verification mission.
He said a date is yet to be set for their return.
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