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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
UGANDA: Army halts operations as ceasefire goes into effect
KAMPALA, 29 Aug 2006 (IRIN) - The Ugandan army has halted operations against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in northern Uganda and southern Sudan as a truce aimed at underpinning peace talks took effect on Tuesday morning, officials said.
"The Commander in Chief of the UPDF [Uganda People's Defense Forces] has directed the UPDF to cease all search and destroy operations against the LRA," army spokesman Felix Kulaije said. "It is hereby directed that the UPDF should withdraw to their barracks and to the guarding of internally displaced people. They should not shoot at the LRA unless in defence of the population."
Kulaije said President Yoweri Museveni, the Commander in Chief of the army, issued the order as the "cessation of hostilities" agreement signed on Saturday in the southern Sudanese town of Juba came into force at 6:00 am (0300 GMT).
The LRA commander, Joseph Kony, who declared a unilateral ceasefire on 4 August, was expected to make an announcement reaffirming the earlier truce, according to LRA officials.
Under the terms of the agreement, Uganda will guarantee the rebels - who number anywhere between 500 and 5,000 - safe passage to two assembly points in autonomous southern Sudan.
Addressing a news conference on Tuesday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, after the ceasefire order had been given, Uganda's junior Defence Minister, Ruth Nankabirwa, said the military was mapping out safe corridors that the LRA fighters would use to reach the designated sites.
The president, she added, had appointed two senior military officers to the monitoring team that is overseeing the implementation of the agreement.
"We expect the LRA to start using these corridors when they are properly announced later in the day," Nankabirwa said. She warned that the military would remain on alert and respond "appropriately" if the LRA carried out any attacks on civilians.
"The UPDF still has the duty and constitutional mandate to protect the people. They have been ordered not to shoot at the LRA unless to protect the people," the minister said. "We are now under a period of silence and we do not expect any shooting in northern Uganda or the areas designated as safe corridors."
The rebels, who will assemble in the two camps, will stay there for the duration of the talks under the protection of the government of southern Sudan. The talks, being mediated by the southern Sudanese government, are scheduled to resume on Thursday.
Less than 24 hours after the truce was signed, LRA commanders began informing rebel fighters to prepare to move to assembly points in southern Sudan. Using messages broadcast over radio stations in the war-ravaged region, they told their forces not to attack or molest civilians as they make their way out of the bush toward the sites.
On Monday, Museveni warned that his military would re-engage the LRA if the talks were not successful. "If the LRA does not come out and take the opportunity for a peaceful solution, we shall hunt them," he told a news conference with visiting Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
However, the Juba talks are seen by many as the most promising way to end northern Uganda's conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced nearly two million people since the LRA took leadership of a regional rebellion in 1988.
The talks still have to overcome the problem of an indictment against the LRA leaders by the International Criminal Court (ICC). On Monday, the ICC said arrest warrants for those charged remained in force.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, has hailed the agreement but called for the immediate release of all abducted women and children. "I have consistently described the situation in northern Uganda as the world’s worst neglected emergency since my first mission there in November 2003. Now, with the assistance of the government of south Sudan, we have a real chance to make progress.
"The humanitarian community stands ready to assist these women and children in their return and reintegration. Their immediate release would send a positive message to the international community that the LRA is serious about a peaceful resolution of the conflict."
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[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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