Obote Urged to Quit After Army Mutiny

Army units mutinied and seized control of northern parts of the country amid widening unrest against the government of President Milton Obote, official radio reports said Friday.

Diplomats and Western relief officials also reported rebels loyal to former Defense Minister Yoweri Museveni overran Fort Portal, Uganda’s fourth largest city, in their biggest victory yet in their five-year-old guerrilla war against Obote’s regime.

In the face of the mounting unrest, Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Uganda, called on Obote to resign in favor of a caretaker Cabinet until a new round of general elections can be held.

Under the Ugandan constitution, elections must be held before the end of the year.

The mutiny and the rebel victory left large parts of the former British colony outside of the central government’s control.

There were no immediate reports of the number of casualties in either incident.

May Seek Tanzanian Aid

The British Broadcasting Corp., in a report from Dar es Salaam, said a Ugandan delegation was in the Tanzanian capital apparently to seek the assistance of President Julius Nyerere in quelling the unrest at home.

Tanzanian troops marched into Uganda in 1979, toppling dictator Idi Amin, installing an interim Parliament and setting up the 1980 general elections that brought Obote to power.

Uganda radio said that on Friday the army rebels caused bloodshed in the 10th Brigade’s base town of Gulu, 150 miles north of Kampala, and at the Karuma Falls bridge over the Nile, 50 miles south of Gulu.

The Western, Eastern, Kampala and Bombo army brigades pledged loyalty to Obote and vowed to fight “the new enemy who has emerged,” the radio said.

There was no report of a similar pledge from the Northern Brigade, commanded by Brig. Bazilio Olara Okello.

Tribal Differences

The military revolt appeared centered on tribal differences, while the guerrilla war has been waged since Obote came to power in 1980 over the election that Museveni, defense minister under Amin, claimed was rigged.

The Okellos are members of the northern Acholi tribe while Obote and the chief of staff, Brig. Smith Opon Acak, are Langis.