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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
UGANDA: Key events in the northern conflict since May
NAIROBI, 30 Aug 2006 (IRIN) - 5 May: The Ugandan government launches an emergency plan for northern Uganda, emphasising security, humanitarian assistance, peace-building and reconciliation. President Yoweri Museveni again rules out the possibility of a negotiated settlement with the LRA, and insists the rebel leaders must face trial.
17 May: Museveni gives the LRA a two-month ultimatum "to peacefully end terrorism" or face a combined force of Ugandan and southern Sudanese troops. Government says if LRA leader Joseph Kony "got serious about a peaceful settlement, the government would guarantee his safety", adding that Museveni agreed to the amnesty during a meeting on 13 May with Salva Kiir, the president of southern Sudan.
25 May: Rare video footage taken on 2 May shows Kony saying he is ready for talks to end the fighting, under the mediation of southern Sudanese leaders. Kony addresses a delegation headed by south Sudan's Vice-President, Riek Machar. "The LRA is ready to talk peace and end the war in a good way, not by force. We are fighting for peace and I am not a terrorist," he says.
2 June: Religious leaders from northern Uganda urge Interpol to give peace a chance, saying indictments against LRA leaders would scuttle peace efforts, after Interpol issues warrants on behalf of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against five LRA commanders. The five include Kony - indicted on 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes - his deputy, Vincent Otti; commanders Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odhiambo and the late Dominic Ongwen, who are all accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population.
5 June: The United Nations children’s fund, UNICEF, warns that despite improved security, fear and deprivation continue to plague children in northern Uganda. "Many abducted girls are allocated to officers in a form of institutional rape," it says. "Of an estimated 25,000 children (7,500 girls) abducted by the LRA since the start of the conflict, some 1,000 are 'child mothers' who conceived children of their own while in captivity."
9 June: Save the Children calls on the Ugandan government to help account for thousands of "lost and largely forgotten" children abducted by the rebels.
12 June: Efforts by southern Sudanese authorities to mediate between the LRA and the government appear to stall after Kampala says it cannot meet LRA leaders who were indicted by the ICC in October 2005. Machar continues to arrange talks between the government and the LRA.
14 June: The ICC insists that engaging LRA rebels in peace talks will not impede the arrest and prosecution of their indicted rebel leaders.
28 June: Uganda announces that it has been formally invited by the government of southern Sudan to attend talks with the LRA, and will send a technical team for preliminary meetings.
7 July: ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo insists that Kony must eventually face trial.
10 July: Uganda says it is considering asking the ICC to lift indictments against five LRA leaders to facilitate peace talks between the government and the insurgents.
13 July: Machar announces in Juba that peace talks between the rebels and the Ugandan government will start the next day. In Kampala, a senior official says Uganda will tone down its earlier demand that the LRA be represented by either Kony or Otti.
14 July: Peace talks between the Ugandan government and the LRA formally open in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba.
19 July: Talks continue. The government rules out a ceasefire with the LRA until a comprehensive peace pact is signed, saying the group had not respected previous truces. The LRA had called for a truce during the talks.
20 July: The government starts implementing a six-month emergency plan to resettle thousands of people displaced by the 20-year-old conflict.
24 July: Talks are adjourned for a week to allow for consultations.
2 August: Machar announces that talks will resume on 7 August, after meeting Kony near the border between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Various delegations from Uganda, including Kony's relatives, attended the meetings in Garamba national park.
9 August: Talks delayed after a disagreement over an announcement of a unilateral ceasefire by the LRA on 4 August. The rebels insist they will not return to the negotiating table until the government too declares a ceasefire. The government rejects the demand.
16 August: Officials say talks will finally resume on 18 August. The talks, which should have restarted earlier, were again postponed as the LRA mourned the killing of Lukwiya.
21 August: Talks finally resume, with a discussion on the cessation of hostilities and the demobilisation of fighters.
26 August: The two parties sign a cessation of hostilities agreement effective from 0300 GMT on 22 August. Otti goes on the radio to tell LRA fighters to observe the cessation.
29 August: The Ugandan army halts operations against the LRA as the truce takes effect.
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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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