Ugandan gov't defends AU position on Sudan's Bashir ICC indictment

From Uganda Pulse, Friday, 10 July 2009:
Uganda Government News: Uganda defends AU position on Bashir ICC indictment
By Zacharia Tiberindwa, Ultimate Media

The government has defended the position taken by the Assembly of African Heads of States and governments in Sirte, Libya that no African country in the African Union should assist the International Criminal Court in the arrest of Sudan President, Omar El Bashir whom ICC has indicted for several offences.

This comes amidst mixed reactions over the decision African Union leaders made on the indictment of Bashir and follows earlier mixed reactions over ICC’s decision to indict Bashir when he is still a serving president of Sudan.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kuteesa has told journalists in Kampala that the decision African leaders made has been viewed by many people as a manifestation of lack of respect and support for the ICC Rome Statute by African leaders.

Kuteesa however says what the African countries want is for the ICC to defer the indictment of Bashir for 12 months like the African Union requested in February 2009.

He says this is to allow African countries to investigate further on Bashir’s case such that they can give their recommendations on his indictment.

Kuteesa says all these leaders are in support of the ICC Statute which led to the establishment of ICC, He says that their decision is in not a way of denying their support to the Rome Statute because the African countries were party to the making of the statute.

Kuteesa says the African countries are still committed to combating impunity, promoting democracy, rule of law and good governance in the same spirit of the Rome Statute like the ICC and not otherwise like it has been imagined.

KCC of Uganda make CECAFA quarters

Photo: Sentogo opened the scoring for KCC with a diving header (BBC Sport)

From BBC Sport at 15:26 GMT, Sunday, 5 July 2009 16:26 UK:

KCC of Uganda sealed a quarter-final spot in the Cecafa club Championship in Sudan on Friday.

Robert Sentogo scored the fastest goal of the tournament after 47 seconds as KCC beat Prisons of Tanzania 3-1 in Group B.
Shaban Mtupah equalised for the Tanzanians after 13 minutes.

But the Ugandans secured the win with goals from Tonny Okello and Katongo in the 38th and 88th minutes respectively.

So KCC's place in the quarter-final is assured after beating TP Mazembe 3-2 in their opening match.

In the other Group B game, DR Congo's TP Mazembe made a spectacular comeback from their opening loss to KCC.

They trounced Benadir of Somalia 8-1.

There was another thrashing in Group C where Kenya's Tusker hit six goals past Miembieni of Zanzibar.

Tusker now have four points which secures them a place in the quarter-finals.

The other Group C game between Hay el Arab of Sudan and Burundi's Inter Stars ended 1-1.

SEE ALSO

KCC beat Mazembe at Cecafa 
02 Jul 09 |  African

Merreikh kick-off Cecafa in style 
01 Jul 09 |  African

Cecafa ready for kick-off 
30 Jun 09 |  African

Sudan to host Cecafa tournaments 
25 May 09 |  African

---

RELATED BBC LINKS:

BBC Fast Track - at the heart of African sport

See Sudan Watch, Monday, 06 July 2009:
CECAFA 2009 results: Hay El-Arab of Sudan make the quarters

Rwanda: TP Mazembe Thrashes Benadir 8-1

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KCC CRUISE AHEAD

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Ugandan gov't arrests 17 people allegedly involved with Ugandan Patriotic Front (UPF)

Commentary by Peter Eichstaedt, Saturday 04 July 2009:
Serious threat or convenient diversion?

While the Ugandan government's recent arrest of some 17 people allegedly involved with a shadowy group called the Ugandan Patriotic Front (UPF) makes dramatic news, one is left wondering about the validity of this so-called threat.

Rather, it seems like yet another grand diversion for Ugandans from the serious problems it faces as the much heralded "pearl of Africa," to say nothing of the government's inability to stop the real threat: Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army.

Further, this recent arrest of alleged enemies of the regime underscores the often stated accusation that Uganda's strong man President Yoweri Museveni is first and foremost a military man, not a politician.

The rise of this apparent new threat to Museveni's government is very related to the Kony and the LRA and Museveni's lack of action in northern Uganda.

Kony has been camped out in the remote forest regions of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo since early 2006 (advance LRA units were there in late 2005), leaving northern Uganda a relatively calm and safe place.

To most observers, this would have been the perfect time for Museveni to move in and begin rebuilding the region economically, socially and every other way. After all, the Acholi people who populate the north have been outsiders at best and enemies at worst of the Museveni government.

What better way to turn your former enemies into your staunchest allies than to help the Ugandans who have borne the brunt of 20 years of Kony's war than to quickly rebuild, roads, farms, schools and hospitals?

Instead of a massive reconstruction of the north, Museveni's government has done next to nothing, and what little it has been done has been riddled with corruption and theft.

It is now more than three years since Kony has vacated the north, yet little has been done to improve the north and even less is on the horizon.

The frustration in the north with Museveni's government grows every day as residents now face drought conditions in the north, which means fewer crops and higher food prices.

What else would any reasonable person expect to happen when news breaks that yet another rebel group may be forming in the north to challenge Museveni's government?

Rumors of this and other shadowy rebels groups are not uncommon in the north as well as other places in Uganda where citizens have been left out of the mainstream of Uganda political and economic life.

And also not uncommon is Museveni's reaction, which is to arrest the alleged conspirators and toss them in prison.

While it is certainly a concern for the government, the repeated surfacing of such groups, in particular this one in northern Uganda, should be seen as a wake-up call for Museveni, rather than a serious threat.

The question, however, is Museveni listening?

Former LRA commanders Odong Kao and Santo (Sunday) Otto engaging in suspicous activities?

Note that according to the following article, freelance journalist Patrick Otim who worked for the Gulu station Mega FM, has been arrested for unknown reasons and his whereabouts are unknown.

News commentary from Peter Eichstaedt, Thursday, 28 May 2009:
Rumblings from the north

Word has spread quickly around Uganda about a possible regrouping of former rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda.

An article by Chris Ocowun, a reporter for the government's New Vision newspaper, says that a couple of top former LRA commanders reportedly have been meeting secretly with former rebels.

They are said to be Odong Kao and Santo (Sunday) Otto, and the government fears that they may be gathering for a return to the bush.

Otto came to the attention of Ugandan authorities when he defected in 2007 from the LRA in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Upon his return to Kampala, Otto provided graphic details of LRA leader Joseph Kony's execution of his long-time deputy, Vincent Otti. Otti had long been the man pushing Kony to sign a peace deal, and had clearly convinced at least half or more of the LRA that this was a good thing.

Instead Kony killed Otti, which forced an exodus of many other LRA fighters who had been aligned with Otti, including Sunday Otto.

So now what?

New Vision reported that the Ugandan army spokesman, Capt. Ronald Kakurungu, said: “These two former LRA commanders returned from rebel captivity and benefited from amnesty. However, they have been engaging in suspicious activities, which we, as security agents, are getting concerned about.”

It also reported that in 2006, security operatives netted Odong Kao with two wives of LRA chief Joseph Kony who were trying to return to Garamba, where Kony and his rebels were at the time.

Kakurungu also said the former deputy speaker of Gulu municipal council, Alex Okot Langwen, was recently arrested over security related crimes. He said Langwen was briefly detained at Gulu barracks before he was transferred to Kampala.

This is the second time Langwen is being arrested on allegations that he has connections with the LRA rebels. In 2006, he was arrested and charged with treason before he was released after receiving amnesty.

If nothing else, this could be symptom of the growing resentment in the north against the lack of redevelopment efforts by the government in the north. More and more often one hears comments that unless something is done quickly, another rebellion could begin.

Uganda does not need that.

In another concern, freelance journalist Patrick Otim who worked for the Gulu station Mega FM, was also arrested for unknown reasons and his whereabouts are unknown.

Canadian company donates funds for railway line linking S. Sudan and Uganda

From Sudan Radio Service, 27 May 2009 (Khartoum):

The Minister of Transport in GONU says that his ministry has formed a joint committee with the Ugandan government to open and renovate roads and a railway line linking the two countries.

Minister Philip Thon Leek spoke to Sudan Radio Service in Khartoum on Wednesday.

[Philip Thon Leek]: “As the minister of roads in GONU, I went to Kampala to attend a joint meeting between the Sudan government and the Ugandan government. We have formed a technical ministerial committee, which is composed of 8 members, 2 members from the Ministry of Roads, 2 from Ministry of Transport in GONU and 4 members from the Ugandan government. Now we are renovating the railway line between Babanosa-Wau, the work on the railway line from Wau-Rumbek and Juba-Gulu will start after we get the funding from the donors. I have just come from a meeting with a Canadian company who will donate funds for the construction of this railway line.”

The railway line which linked towns in southern Sudan and Uganda was closed for more than two decades during the civil war in the region.

Uganda Probes Alleged Supplies to LRA

There are some Belgian nationals who have been secretly supplying LRA with food, arms and uniforms?

From Bor Globe Network by Samuel Richard Egadu in Kampala and Gulu 05 May 2009:

Uganda Probes Alleged Supplies to LRA

Belgian nationals implicated in secret shipments following seizure of trucks in South Sudan.

Uganda’s military says it is investigating Belgian citizens suspected of supplying food and military aid to Ugandan rebels now in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC.

Spokesperson for the Uganda military, Major Felix Kulayigye, says the investigation follows last month’s seizure of 13 trucks in the South Sudan town of Yambio, which were apparently intended for the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army, LRA.

“We are investigating some Belgian nationals for supplying food, military uniform and arms to LRA rebels in DRC,” Kulayigye told IWPR.

“I am not authorised to divulge the details as the investigations are going on. However, there are some Belgians who have been secretly supplying LRA with food, arms and uniforms.”

An official at the Belgian embassy, who declined to be identified, confirmed that the embassy is cooperating with Uganda’s External Security Organisation and Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence over the investigation.

“It’s true the Ugandan authorities are investigating some of our citizens over supplies and links to LRA rebels," said the embassy official. "We are closely working with external security in these investigations."

The deputy leader of the Uganda peace talks, Henry Okello Oryem, says the government is taking the apparent attempt to supply the LRA very seriously.

“We are investigation some individuals and non-governmental organisations who are allegedly supplying food and communication equipments to LRA rebels,” said Okello.

In mid-December, the Ugandan army attacked LRA camps in DRC’s Garamba National Park, but failed to kill or capture rebel leader Joseph Kony and his top commanders, wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Following the attack, the LRA went on a rampage, killing an estimated 1,000 civilians in the northeastern DRC and South Sudan.

The authorities in the Western Equatoria state of South Sudan last month said they intercepted 13 trucks thought to be carrying food from Uganda to Doruma, a key town in northeastern DRC which sits in the area occupied by the LRA.

According to papers seized at the time, the cargo belonged to Caritas, the Catholic relief agency that previously shipped food to the LRA on the South Sudan-DRC border.

The food had been supplied as rebels and Uganda engaged in peace talks, and was intended to stop the former from raiding local towns and villages.

The authorities seized the trucks in Yambio fearing that the supplies might fall into LRA hands.

Caritas has been cleared of involvement in the incident, said Kulayigye.

“We have established that Caritas was innocent,” he said. “They were not involved. The papers allegedly that the food was for Caritas were fake.”

Now, the investigation has focused on Belgians involved with convoy, “It’s some Belgian nationals who are involved. I am not authorised to give you details until the investigations are over.”

The executive director of Caritas in the Gulu diocese, Bosco Komakech, says the organisation stopped supplying food to the LRA after the collapse of talks at the end of November last year.

The food deliveries began in July 2006, with Caritas trucking supplies to the rebels at the request of the peace talks chief mediator Dr Riek Machar, the vice-president of South Sudan, said Komakech.

“We stop supplying food for to LRA as soon as the peace talks collapsed. We are happy [the Ugandan army] has cleared our name,” he told IWPR. “They should go ahead and investigate these people who are trying to misuse, abuse and tarnish our name.”

In the northern Uganda, meanwhile, officials from the United Nations World Food Programme, WFP, say they will halt the delivery of food aid to the north’s remaining internal refugee camps by July.

The move could affect around 609,000 displaced people who are said to be occupying or living near the region’s internal refugee camps. From the mid 1990s to 2006, nearly two million northern Ugandan were forced to live in 200 camps and were supplied by the WFP.

Remaining camp residents are worried because the region faces food shortages due to devastating rains and floods in 2007 which washed away crops and was followed by a crippling dry spell in 2008.

The food phase out will impact on 329,000 people who are still in camps for internal refugees in the Acholi sub region and 280,000 others in transit camps, according to officials. Transit camps are temporary facilities for people who have left the region’s main camps but have yet to return to their villages.

WFP’s Uganda country director, Stanlake Samkange, says the organisation has already stopped food distribution to 214,000 refugees in the ethnic Acholi region because the war with LRA rebels effectively ended in 2006.

Refugees can now returning to farming, he says.

“More former [refugees] have managed to access their farmland and produce their own food, which has eased the pressure on food aid,” Samkange told IWPR.

Samkange says that although the WFP has stopped distribution, it will continue to monitor the food and nutrition situation.

“We will support [the displaced] through recovery initiatives including cash and vouchers, so as to help them rebuild their livelihoods,” he said.

Uganda’s state minister for disaster preparedness and refugees, Musa Ecweru, says that the time is right to reduce and eliminate food support.

“The region is now peaceful. [Internal refugees] have access to their land. We thought it right for people to start life without relief food,” he said.

However, many of those still in camps were unhappy with the decision to cut off food supplies.

“Some people are worried about going back to their villages and land due the fear of LRA rebels,” said Kitgum member of parliament Beatrice Atim Anywar.

“The move by WFP to cut the relief food for [displaced people] is very unfortunate,” said Charles Tolit of Atiak, of Amuru district. “Some of us who border Sudan can’t go back to our villages due to fear of attacks by LRA rebels who can cross into the region any time since the army failed to destroy them.”

Others in Amuru say they are worried about spirits which are believed to linger near the bones of those who have died in the past fighting rebels.

“There is no way we can begin going to grow crops in the land where bones and skulls are scattered all over,” said Josephine Amony.

Another Amuru resident, Grace Adoch, said, “We are still in the camps. They should continue to give us food relief until August or September when we harvest. Otherwise, people are going to die.”

Samuel Richard Egadu is an IWPR-trained journalist.

Who is re-supplying the LRA?

Over the last week there have been a growing number of reports that the LRA has been re-supplied from the air.

The Sudanese government has routinely denied that it is re-supplying the LRA, but the question remains - how are the rebels managing to continue their operations if they have no outside backer?



Map source: BBC report 4 April 2009:
Who is re-supplying the LRA?

Ugandan rebel movement the Lord's Resistance Army, now based in the far north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is continuing its attacks on civilians in DR Congo and southern Sudan, despite a three-month campaign to hunt the rebels down.

The BBC's Africa analyst, Martin Plaut, looks at how the LRA has survived and considers who might be re-supplying it.

On 14 December last year Ugandan aircraft attacked camps of the LRA in the remote Garamba National Park, in the north-east of the DR Congo.

The operation against the LRA - known as Lightning Thunder - was launched by Uganda, DR Congo and Sudan.

But despite fierce engagements, the rebels have not been defeated and are continuing a series of murderous attacks on civilians.

Around 100,000 Congolese and 60,000 southern Sudanese have been driven from their homes.

Scattered across a vast area of northern Congo and southern Sudan, the continued operations of the Lord's Resistance Army and their leader, Joseph Kony, are perhaps not surprising.

This is an area of dense forests and swamps - ideal territory for rebel attacks.

But what is less easy to understand is how the LRA manages to co-ordinate its ambushes when its forces are so dispersed.

Where do they get the satellite phones they use - as well as the ammunition, food and medicines their forces require?

'Air drops'

Over the last week there have been a growing number of reports that the LRA has been re-supplied from the air.

Late last month there was an attack on the village of Banda, which forced locals to evacuate the area.

This - according to the reports - was designed to clear the area for an air-drop to take place.

There is also the testimony from LRA abductees who managed to escape from the rebels.

They say that air-drops took place in a mountainous area called Karago, west of the town of Aba.

The United Nations mission in Congo, Monuc, says it has heard the rumours, but has no evidence that the air-drops are taking place.

"Our military seem sceptical that the reports are true, given the level of co-ordination that would be required on the ground," Monuc spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai told the BBC.

"But the fact is that we just don't know and often lack reliable, timely, actionable intelligence," he said.

Although there is no confirmation of these reports, they have come from several sources.

So where might the flights have originated?

Southern Sudanese officials have said openly that they believe that Khartoum continues to support the LRA.

The accusation has been denied by the LRA spokesman, David Matsanga, who told the BBC Focus on Africa programme that the suggestion is designed to frustrate attempts to re-launch the peace process.

"The Ugandan government is looking for ways of finishing the situation militarily, because they don't want to talk about what has happened," said Mr Matsanga.

"These accusations are coming now to inflame the situation," he added.

The Sudanese government has routinely denied that it is re-supplying the LRA, but the question remains - how are the rebels managing to continue their operations if they have no outside backer?

Sudanese refugees in Uganda return home - Ikafe camp closes on June 1, 2009

From Ultimate Media 02 April 2009:
Uganda People News: Ikafe refugee camp for closure

Ikafe refugee camp faces closure. John Alinaitwe, the refugee officer at the Prime Minister’s office in charge of West Nile said Ikafe camp closes on June 1st, 2009.

Alinaitwe explains that this camp is set to close because most of the Sudanese refugees who have been occupying it have gone back to Sudan. He tells Ultimate Media that the remaining few Sudanese refugees in this Ikafe camp have been joined with their counterparts residing at Okollo camp in Yumbe district.

Alinaitwe says even Okollo camp could close before the end of this year if the Sudanese refugees there continue to voluntarily return home the way those at Ikafe have done.

He encourages the Sudanese refugees to voluntarily go home saying the donors were now planning to cut down their support for the Sudanese refugees and intending to help Sudanese in their homeland.

Oil discoveries around Uganda's Lake Albert - Bishop sees no return to civil war despite rebel warning

International oil companies operating in Uganda have announced plans to step up production following oil discoveries around Uganda's Lake Albert, which have been reported to be among the largest deposits discovered in the region.

From Ecumenical News International, Nairobi:
UGANDA: Bishop sees no return to civil war despite rebel warning
By Fredrick Nzwili, April 02, 2009

Ugandan Anglican Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng has said he is confident that civil war will not return to the northern part of his country, despite warnings by a rebel leader that the discovery of huge oil reserves in the region might re-ignite fighting.
"This is nonsense. This is propaganda," Onono-Onweng told Ecumenical News International from Gulu in the north of Uganda, in a reference to the rebel leader's comments.

Onono-Onweng, bishop of the Diocese of Northern Uganda, is part of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, a group of Christian, Muslim and traditional leaders that has worked to bring peace to the region, where the rebel Lord's Resistance Army began fighting 20 years ago.

In 2006, the Ugandan government and the rebels signed a truce, and two years later they signed a cease-fire that stopped short of an all-out peace agreement.

Another church leader, Roman Catholic Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu, noted how the territory had changed since the cease-fire.

"The region remains calm and people are re-adjusting themselves to new life, though not completely. They are still waiting for the formal conclusion of the talks," Odama said.

Still, the LRA's chief negotiator, David Matsanga, told a news conference in Nairobi on March 13 that the discovery of oil in Uganda's northern region could ignite a fresh war.

International oil companies operating in Uganda have announced plans to step up production following oil discoveries around Uganda's Lake Albert, which have been reported to be among the largest deposits discovered in the region.

Tension has been increasing in recent weeks as rebel leader Joseph Kony has repeatedly failed to sign a final peace deal to end the LRA rebellion against the Ugandan government.

Kony and his supporters are holed up in neighboring Congo, and have been the target of a joint military operation by Uganda, Congo and the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan.

This military operation has now wound down but the operation led to a violent backlash by the LRA against hundreds of Congolese civilians.

Despite the uncertainty, Onono-Onweng said he was confident the LRA would not return to northern Uganda.

"How can the rebels defeat three armies? We do not see how they can return," the bishop said.

Uganda Government News: No more peace talks for LRA

The LRA insists the indictments by the International Criminal Court against its top leaders should be dropped before they sign the agreement, while the government of Uganda insists that the LRA must first sign the peace agreement before Uganda can engage the ICC to drop the arrest warrants issued against top LRA leaders.

March 29, 2009 report from Ultimate Media
Uganda Government News: No more peace talks for LRA

The government of Uganda will not consider fresh peace talks with the Lords Resistance Army rebels.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kuteesa says the government of Uganda has done all it can to ensure it signs a peace accord with the LRA rebels but the rebels have failed.

The minister was briefing the ambassadors on successes and challenges of the operation Lightening Thunder to capture or kill Joseph Kony and other LRA leaders that the government embarked on the Garamba forest of DRC on December 14th.

He says although the government did not manage to capture or force LRA leader Kony to sign the comprehensive peace agreement, the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces was able to effectively disable the LRA military and troop capabilities.

Kutesa says operations against the LRA are still continuing, although a large part of the Uganda army came back from the DRC.

He says the government is not considering any other peace talks with the LRA because the peace talks were successfully completed in Juba, a comprehensive agreement arrived at but the LRA leader failed to sign the peace agreement.

The LRA insists the indictments by the International Criminal Court against its top leaders should be dropped before they sign the agreement, while the government of Uganda insists that the LRA must first sign the peace agreement before Uganda can engage the ICC to drop the arrest warrants issued against top LRA leaders.

ICC: Trial of two DR Congo militia leaders, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolom, to open Sept 24

Note that the FPRI was a militia formed towards the end of 2002, with backing from Uganda, according to the ICC charge sheet. Ituri is a mineral-rich district of DR Congo that borders Uganda and Sudan.

Trial of two DR Congo militia leaders to open Sept 24: ICC
Friday, 28 March 2009 report by AFP:

THE HAGUE — The trial of Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo, two former militia leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, will begin on September 24, the International Criminal Court announced Friday.

Both men are charged with having committed war crimes, including using child soldiers and attacking civilians, and crimes against humanity, including murder rape and sexual slavery.

Katanga, 30, also known as "Simba," or lion, is accused of having led the Patriotic Resistance Front in Ituri (FRPI), which operated in the east of the country.

The FPRI was a militia formed towards the end of 2002, with backing from Uganda, according to the ICC charge sheet.

Its members, who belonged to the Lendu and Ngiti ethnic groups, are suspected of having carried out massacres against the Hema ethnic group.

Ngudjolo, 37, is accused of having been the leader of the Nationalist Integrationist Front (FNI), which operated in the same district. The FNI was made up of Lendu fighters.

The charges against both men arise out of a joint attack on the village of Bororo, in Ituri on February 24, 2003, by the two groups they are alleged to have led.

A pre-trial chamber of the court decided earlier this month to join the two cases.

Ituri is a mineral-rich district of DR Congo that borders Uganda and Sudan with a population of between 3.5 and 5.5 million people made up of 18 different ethnic groups.

Britain appeals to Uganda to intervene in Zimbabwe crisis & help in Darfur Sudan

From Africa Press Agency (APA-Kampala, Uganda 11 March 2009:
Britain appeals to Uganda to intervene in Zimbabwe crisis

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has appealed to visiting Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni to intervene in the Zimbabwe situation to provide a road map to the restoration of democracy.

Museveni is the current chairman for the Commonwealth, a 53-member organization of countries formerly colonized by Britain.

According to a press release from State House on Tuesday, Museveni told his host that there was need to give time to the coalition government in Harare to restore full democracy.

Museveni was optimistic that the coalition government in Zimbabwe will help to address the economic problems of that country.

Gordon [Brown] also wanted President Museveni to help in Darfur and to ensure that the Sudanese government implements the comprehensive peace agreement signed between Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army which the Khartoum government has not implemented fully.

Meanwhile, Museveni has condemned the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan.

In a meeting with Commonwealth secretary general Kamalesh Sharma in London on Tuesday, Museveni strongly condemned the attack during which the players’ bus was sprinkled with bullets on the way to the pitch.

He said that the Commonwealth should condemn all terrorist acts against innocent people. JM/pm/APA