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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
UGANDA: Peace process boosted as rebel leader emerges from hideout
KAMPALA, 18 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Joseph Kony, leader of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, joined his deputy, Vincent Otti, at the Ri-Kwangba Camp, on Monday, in a boost for the Ugandan peace process.
Martin Ojul, the main rebel negotiator at the talks in the southern Sudan town of Juba, said the LRA supremo had arrived at the neutral encampment designated as an assembly point for rebels under a truce signed three weeks ago.
"They [Otti and Kony] are both at the camp and we are supposed to meet them today for consultations," Ojul told IRIN from Nabanga, an outpost on the border between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He said the talks would centre on the remaining issues, including the release of non-combatants held by the LRA.
Northern Gulu Resident District Commissioner Walter Ochora, who has been coordinating the movement of rebels from northern Uganda to the southern Sudanese areas of Owiny Ki-Bul, said he was trying to confirm reports of Kony's presence at the camp.
"That is surely another piece of pleasant information. But I am waiting for a call from Vincent Otti, and I will use that to confirm the information," Ochora said from Gulu, the main town in northern Uganda.
Under the truce that took effect on 29 August, the rebels are to stay at Ri-Kwangba and Owiny-Ki-Bul for the duration of the talks. Ri-Kwangba is near the southern Sudanese border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and is intended to house LRA members based in the forests of the eastern DRC, while Owiny-Ki-Bul is near the Sudanese border with Uganda and is designated for rebels in northern Uganda.
Ochora, however, confirmed that most of the rebels who were supposed to converge in Owiny-Ki-Bul had already done so.
"I have just talked to my friend Brigadier Caesar Acelam and he told me all the groups that were supposed to converge from northern Uganda have assembled," he said. "We have reports that about nine rebels were sighted in Apac District, but we are investigating and if it is true, then we shall advise them to report to us and we will either transport them to the border, or find an assembly point for them."
Other reports indicated that at least 804 rebel fighters had assembled by Sunday at Owiny-Ki-Bul, where they were scheduled to slaughter goats for a meal with the Sudanese community as a sign of reconciliation.
A government official, Robert Kabushenga, who has been close to the talks, said, however, that they could not confirm or deny the presence of Kony at Ri-Kwangba. "That is for the LRA to confirm or the SPLA [Sudan People’s Liberation Army], as they are registering those people," he said.
Kony, Otti and three other senior LRA commanders, one of whom is now dead, were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by The Hague-based International Criminal Court, but the charges are seen as a hindrance to the peace process and the rebel leaders have demanded they be dropped.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has offered the LRA a blanket amnesty if the rebels agree to a peace deal but the government has said it would not consider asking the court to drop the charges until a comprehensive accord is signed.
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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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