Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni Tuesday discussed security and the death of Sudan's former first vice president John Garang with Sudanese First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardi, successor to Garang, in Kampala, according to a press release from the Ugandan state house.

Mayardi, accompanied by a 13-man delegation, arrived in Uganda on Tuesday afternoon. He was sworn in as the country's first vice president last month after his predecessor John Garang was killed in a helicopter crash on July 30 on his way back to southern Sudan from Uganda. He also succeeded Garang as chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

"The discussions centered on three points namely the report of the helicopter crash in which the former vice president John Garang died on July 30, 2005, security between northern Uganda and southern Sudan and transport between Uganda and the Sudan," the press release said.

President Museveni hailed the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) for maintaining peace despite the tragic loss of Garang. He said the investigations on the helicopter crash were still going on. The Sudanese government and the SPLM, SPLA's political wing, reached a comprehensive peace deal in January, ending 21 years of civil war between the north and the south that killed more than two million people in the country.

On security between northern Uganda and southern Sudan, Museveni proposed a joint operation of SPLA, the Sudanese Army and the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) to completely wipe out John Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) based in southern Sudan.

He said that presently Kony has been weakened and has fled to southern Sudan with only 80 people, adding that pressure should be kept on so that Kony does not get time to regain strength.

Mayardi said the Sudanese government and SPLA are willing to have a joint operation with the UPDF against Kony remnants.

He said peace has now returned to southern Sudan and hoped that the relationship between Uganda and Sudan will continue to flourish.

Source: Xinhua