Ugandan rebels move towards CAR - Sudanese official

Reuters report (via ReliefWeb) by Skye Wheeler, 23 Feb 2007:

Ugandan rebels have crossed into Sudan from hideouts in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and were moving north on Friday towards the Central African Republic, a Sudanese official and aid worker said.

Paul Matthews Rikito, director of Tambura County in southwestern Sudan on the CAR border, told Reuters he saw two groups of Lord's Resistance Army rebels moving north.

"They are so many. The first group was more than 1,000," Rikito said by phone. "They are heading towards CAR."

He added that the group included women, children and cattle.

The LRA denied the move. "We are not moving anywhere near Central African Republic. We have no intention to," LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayoo said.

But local aid workers corroborated the sighting.

"The group (of LRA) ... is following the Namatina River in a northwest direction. They are moving fast," said Andy Wren, who works for aid agency Norwegian People's Aid.

He said cited south Sudanese military sources with whom his organisation works closely.

Under a landmark truce signed in August and renewed in December, the rebels were supposed to assemble in two places in south Sudan -- one on the DRC border, near the top leadership's hideouts, and one on the Uganda border.

But they have repeatedly missed deadlines to do so.

Last month, delegates representing the rebels walked out of peace talks in the south Sudanese capital, Juba, saying they feared for their security after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir threatened to "get rid of the LRA from Sudan".

The rebels say they have since scattered their forces in southern Sudan and the DRC on security fears and will not resume talks unless another venue can be found, outside Sudan.

The talks had raised hopes of an end to a two-decade war that killed tens of thousands and displaced 1.7 million people.

Rikito said extra south Sudanese soldiers had been deployed to protect civilians from LRA attacks, adding that the rebels looted food from villages and robbed a clinic.

The rebels are notorious for killing and robbing civilians, mutilating victims and abducting children to use as fighters.

Analysts fear LRA fighters on the Sudan/CAR border would further destabilise an area that is already a regional tinderbox because of a spillover from Sudan's Darfur conflict, which has displaced hundreds of thousands in CAR and Chad.

Uganda rebels quit assembly areas, reject Sudan mediation

Reuters report (via ST) Feb 22, 2007:

Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army rebels said on Thursday they have left two assembly points in southern Sudan set up under a landmark truce with the Ugandan government, fearing for their safety.

LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayoo said the rebels would never resume negotiations in south Sudan's capital, Juba, despite claims by the chief mediator, south Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar, that they were due to do so this week.

A truce renewed in December gave the rebels until last month to gather in two places in south Sudan - Owiny-Ki-Bul, on the Uganda border and Ri-Kwangba, on the Democratic Republic of Congo border.

Ayoo said both groups had dispersed and the LRA's top leaders were back in their jungle hideouts in the DRC.

"We withdrew from Ri-Kwangba because of security concerns, so we are back in Congo," he said. "The group in Owiny-Ki-Bul has scattered in southern Sudan."

Ayoo was talking by phone from Nairobi. LRA delegates have refused to return to Juba since Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened to "get rid of the LRA from Sudan".

The Juba peace talks had raised hopes of an end to two decades of conflict in northern Uganda that have killed tens of thousands and displaced 1.7 million people.

But the truce expires at the end of this month, with no agreement on when the two sides will meet to extend it.

Uganda accuses the rebels of repeatedly failing to assemble in agreed locations, which the rebels deny. Government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Machar told Reuters on Tuesday he expected LRA delegates back in Juba this week to set a date for resuming talks.

"Our position has not changed," Ayoo said. "We are not going back there (to southern Sudan). We are fully united in the search for a new venue."

The Ugandan government has said it will not move the venue.

But Ayoo said the LRA would keep their guns silent, even if the truce expires. The government has made similar comments.

Many Ugandans fear the LRA will never sign a peace deal unless the International Criminal Court in the Hague drops indictments against its top leaders for war crimes like rape, mutilation and abducting children to use as fighters.

Summit displaces Uganda street children

Uganda is preparing for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November by clearing beggars from the capital's streets.

Aid workers fear that the centre cannot cope with the influx.

Most of those living on Kampala's streets are from the troubled and underdeveloped region of Karamoja.

Full story by Sarah Grainger BBC News, Kampala 21 Feb 2007.

Uganda, DRC, Sudan agree to fight rebels

Via SudanTribune - Uganda, DRC, Sudan agree to fight rebels - by John Thawite, Sunday Vision Feb 10 2007:

Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan have resolved to jointly fight rebels operating along their common borders, the Sunday Vision reported.

They have agreed to exchange information, have joint military teams to verify the location of rebels and set up joint verification missions in the respective countries.

This was during a one-day security meeting at Hotel Margherita in Kasese last week chaired by the Ugandan people's Defence Forces (UPDF) second Division commander, Brig. Hudson Mukasa who also led the UPDF delegation.

Brig. Gen. Bahuma Ambamba led the DRC army side while Col. Adoor Deng headed the Sudanese People's Liberation Army delegation. The UN peace keeping force in the Congo (MONUC) delegation was led by Brig. Gen. Duma Mdutyana.

Issuing a press statement after the meeting, the Rwenzori Mountains Alpine Brigade spokesperson, Lt. Robert Kamara and the 2nd Division Intelligence Officer, Capt. Paul Muwonge, said the UPDF and DRC army had agreed to set up liaison offices in Congolese towns of Bunia and Aba and Arua and Kisoro in Uganda. They said the meeting was a follow-up to the Great lakes Region Pact on security, stability and development that was held on December 15, 2006. At the December meeting, Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Joseph Kabila (DRC), agreed to eliminate their crossborder insecurity.

The Lord's Resistance Army rebels are operating in the Garamba zone in the DRC after fleeing from Sudan while remnants of the Allied Democratic Front are also in the Rwenzori Mountains of eastern DRC.

Ugandan rebel 'prophetess' buried

Feb 3 2007 BBC report excerpt:

. The burial has taken place in Uganda of Alice Lakwena, the self-proclaimed prophetess who began the long-running insurgency in the north of the country.
She died in a refugee camp in Kenya last month, but was buried in her native village in Gulu district where she is still remembered as a healer.

Alice Lakwena led a rebellion against President Yoweri Museveni in the 1980s.

Her followers were defeated by government forces, but regrouped to form the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

The LRA - led by Ms Lakwena's cousin Joseph Kony - is now holding talks to end its 20-year conflict.

"Thousands of people attended her burial," a local official in Gulu district said.

Note, her followers believed magic potions protected them in battle.

LRA peace talks Juba completely cancelled

Juba Post article Jan 25 2007 by Badru Dean - excerpt:

According to The Monitor, Otti reportedly said they are still committed to peace talks to end the 20-year rebel insurgency but that nothing Khartoum can say or do will lure them back to negotiations in South Sudan.

The comments were in reaction to South Sudan President Salva Kiir comments on Monday on South Sudan TV that he would call for mass action against the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, if they continue to attack his people.

Uganda rebels 'welcome in Sudan'

BBC News Jan 17 2007 - excerpt:

South Sudan's Vice-President Riek Machar has told the BBC Ugandan rebels have not been asked to leave his country, the venue for peace talks.

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) want him to be sacked as chief mediator after comments by Sudan's president saying they were no longer welcome.

LRA leader Joseph Kony and three of his top commanders are wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court and have indicated that no deal can be signed while warrants for their arrest remain in place.

Uganda tightens security at Sudan border

Jan 6 2007 New Vision/ST article:

Jan 5, 2006 (KAMPALA) - Uganda said it has deployed more troops and beefed up security measures at the border of Uganda with Sudan, the Ugandan New Vision reported.

The northern-based army spokesman, Lt. Chris Magezi told journalists on Wednesday: "We are very vigilant along the Uganda-Sudan border."

He said the Lord's Resistance Army rebels raided Luru village in south Sudan and looted several property including goats and other food stuffs.

Magezi added that the rebels also grabbed a gun and pistol from a Sudan People's Liberation Army soldier.

"The rebels have refused to assemble at Owiny-Kibul as agreed by the two negotiating teams. Instead, they are roaming around committing atrocities," the army publicist said.

Magezi added that the army had deployed enough troops along the border to ensure that the rebels do not cross to Uganda before the talks are concluded peacefully.

He stated that the recent request by rebel commander Joseph Kony to shift the peace talks venue to Uganda was a way of coming back to Uganda to begin committing atrocities.

He revealed that the ambushes took place not far away from Owiny-Kibul where the rebels are assembling.

Landmark peace talks stumble

IRIN report 8 Sep 2006 excerpt:

Peace talks between Uganda and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have hit a hitch after rebels objected to the inclusion of war victims in the government delegation, Ugandan government officials said on Friday.

Mediators had been trying to make some headway after a landmark truce took effect on 29 August, but rebels broke from talks to consult with their leader, Joseph Kony.

"We disagreed on the representation of war victims at the talks," Captain Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the Ugandan government delegation, said. "The LRA objected to their inclusion, but they have no business determining our delegation."

ICC still calling for Kony's arrest

Reuters report Aug 28 2006 [via CFD] excerpt:

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors said on Monday they still hoped for the arrest of leaders of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) despite an offer of amnesty by Uganda under the terms of a truce.

Leaders of the cult-like rebels, who are infamous for massacring civilians, mutilating survivors and kidnapping thousands of children, are wanted by the Hague-based Court to face war crimes charges.

"We believe that the countries or the states which have an obligation to execute the arrest warrant will do so," the court's deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told journalists.

"We still maintain that because we think those persons who bear the greatest responsibility should not go unpunished."

He was speaking at a news conference called to discuss a separate case and reiterating the Court's position.

The ICC issued arrest warrants against LRA leader Joseph Kony and his deputies last year but has no police force to hunt down its targets, so must rely on Ugandan, Sudanese and former southern Sudanese rebel troops to bring them to justice.

Under the terms of a truce agreed on Saturday, Uganda has offered amnesty to LRA leaders, including those hunted by the ICC, if they abandon their hideouts and assemble at two Sudanese camps within the next three weeks to thrash out a final deal.

The LRA said all leaders including the ICC indictees would come to the camps.

Asked about Uganda's truce offer, Bensouda said: "We certainly hope that they will execute the warrant that has been issued against the top leaders of the LRA."

Uganda begins ceasefire with LRA

Excerpt from BBC report today:

A ceasefire between Uganda's government and the Lord's Resistance Army rebels has come into force.

The truce, signed on Saturday, gives rebels three weeks to assemble at points in southern Sudan where the regional government will protect them.

Comprehensive peace talks are then meant to start. Uganda has pledged that it will not try to attack the rebels.

Thousands have died during the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda, and more than one million have fled their homes.

The ceasefire took effect at 0600 local time (0300 GMT) on Tuesday.

Ugandan army spokesman Maj Felix Kulayigye told the BBC that so far the truce was holding.

Lukwiya death angers LRA

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) delegation to the peace talks in Juba has reacted angrily to reports that one its top commanders, Raska Lukwiya, was gunned down by the UPDF in northern Uganda.



Photo: END OF THE ROAD: The body of Raska Lukwiya lying at Pajimo army detachment in Kitgum district

See full article Lukwiya death angers LRA by Henry Mukasa in Juba, New Vision Online, Aug 13 2006. Excerpt:

Sunday Vision reported yesterday that the LRA third-in-command, Maj Gen Raska Lukwiya, was killed on Saturday by the UPDF in Kitgum district. Lukwiya's body, clad in a green army uniform, was reportedly identified by former LRA commanders at Pajimo barracks in Kitgum.

He was killed together with his bodyguard at Obem village, 7km southwest of Mucwini sub-county at about 10:00am.
Lukwiya was the third on the list of the International Criminal Court (ICC) of LRA commanders wanted for crimes against humanity. Others are Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti and Okot Odhiambo, based in DR Congo.

Also indicted is Dominic Ongwen, who is said to be trapped in northern Uganda.

Meanwhile, the Government has said it is awaiting the LRA response to its ceasefire proposals, as talks resume in Juba today, reports Cyprian Musoke.

Internal affairs minister and government chief negotiator Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda told a press briefing at the media centre yesterday that despite the 'temporary hitch' of the LRA side walking out of the talks, the Government is still resolved in its search for peace.

"We had a temporary hitch, which came when we were still talking. Each side presented their case on disarmament and cessation of hostilities and how they should be handled.

"We waited for our colleagues on the other side to present their case, but they said because government had not declared a unilateral ceasefire, they decided to walk out of the talks."

He said his team and the mediators headed by Southern Sudan Vice-President Dr Riek Machar continued with the talks, in which the Government presented its stand on the remaining item No.5 concerning disarmament and reintegration of the LRA 'compatriots'.

"We agreed that the mediators liaise and share with them (LRA) our proposal on disarmament and cessation of hostilities.
"They did and on Monday (today), we are resuming talks. We expect the LRA to respond on what they think about our proposals on disarmament, cessation of hostilities and reintegration," he said.

Commenting about the killing of Lukwiya, defence minister Crispus Kiyonga said although the Government regrets the loss of any Ugandan, his death should not stop the talks.

Rugunda said he was on an agreed two-day recess, but state minister for foreign affairs Okello Oryem was in charge of the Juba team.

"I also came for consultations to make sure that we remain as focused as before," he said.

He denied that the Government was arrogant and was using the carrot-and-stick trick to 'hammer' the LRA.

"We are engaged genuinely in peace talks for an agreement to conclusively end the war. We believe these brothers and sisters should end the conflict and get reintegrated. The soft landing we are talking about is multi-faceted," he said.

He said the Government had proposed two assembly points for LRA, one in Nabanga, Sudan and another in Waliggo, Kitgum district. The areas will be guarded by the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

"This is why we have said, there must be conditions for ceasefire, like mechanisms for monitoring it," he said.

He said depending on the outcome of talks, the ICC should appreciate a peaceful resolution.

Meanwhile, the ICC has asked the UPDF for Lukwiya's body to confirm whether he is the one.

The northern army spokesman, Lt Chris Magezi and the regional UPDF child protection officer, Capt Patrick Ochira, who took journalists to Pajimo army detachment to view the body, said, "An official from ICC called me yesterday evening (Saturday) and this morning again (Sunday), asking to have a chance to look at the body of Lukwiya.

" told them that the body would be taken to Gulu district where he hailed from so that the relatives could claim and give it a decent burial. They want to confirm if he is the one to avoid wrong identification like it happened for the case of Dominic Ongwen,"

Ongwen was reported killed in Teso about a year ago but was later seen alive.