Rebels Shoot Dead British Aid Worker In Sudan
| Front Page |
By Jonathan Clayton, Africa Correspondent
Times Online
A British aid worker dedicated to helping the victims of some of Africa’s most brutal conflicts died in a hail of bullets when the vehicle in which he and his wife were traveling was ambushed in southern Sudan at the weekend.
Collin Lee, 57, who was born and brought up in Bermuda, and his three-month pregnant wife, Hedwig Unrau Lee from Paraguay, were driving from Uganda to the Sudanese town of Yei on Saturday when they were attacked by suspected Ugandan rebels about seven miles inside the border.
Onesimo Yugusuk, Operations Director in Southern Sudan for International Aid Services (IAS), told The Times: "Mr. Lee was shot in the chest and the throat. He was taken to Yei hospital for treatment, but due to severe wounds he passed away at around 10:20 pm local time." Both worked for IAS.
Mrs. Lee was moved to hospital in Uganda where she was said to be in a "stable condition", but in need of more medical assistance.
The attack had all the hallmarks of the shadowy Ugandan rebel movement, known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - a cult like group renowned for its brutality which has its main bases in the lawless mountains of southern Sudan.
A group of some 20 armed men burnt out the Toyota Land Cruiser in which the two were traveling along with three local colleagues and a driver, who was shot in the arm. They took what valuables they could find, including a short wave radio and fled in the direction of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mr. Lee and his wife, who were married a year ago, specialized in trauma counseling. For the last year, they had traveled around east Africa, counseling people recovering from conflicts in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somaliland, and eastern Congo.
Andreas Zetterlund, spokesman for IAS at the organization's Swedish headquarters, said: "He had a huge heart and they had done a great job helping people come to terms with some very traumatic experiences. The whole thing is tragic, very tragic."
Added Mr. Yugusuk: "He was a lovely, jolly guy with a real commitment to helping people recover from their experiences of conflict; he had a real interest in helping people."
The LRA is led by Joseph Kony, a messianic figure who says he wants to rule in accordance with the 10 Commandments. For 19 years, he has wreaked havoc in northern Uganda and is responsible for thousands of deaths and child abductions. Last month, his fighters targeted aid workers for the first time.
Experts on the conflict said that attack was in response to an October 14 ruling by the International Criminal Court in The Hague that it has issued its first-ever arrest warrants for the top five leaders of the LRA - a move strongly backed by human rights groups, which have also criticized the Ugandan army’s attempts to quash the group.
The LRA insurgency has uprooted more than 1.6 million people and created one of Africa’s worst humanitarian crises. Sudan gave Mr. Kony and his fighters sanctuary to punish Uganda for supporting rebels in south Sudan, but that conflict ended one year ago and the two countries have since reconciled. Since then, the LRA has been on the back foot and many senior figures have surrendered.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives