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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
UGANDA: Most rebels have left northern Uganda for Sudan - army
ACHOLI PII, 26 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - The majority of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels who have been terrorising northern Uganda have left the region and crossed into southern Sudan, a top military official said.
"Almost all the rebels have moved out of northern Uganda – although we cannot rule out a few lingering," Ugandan army commander, General Aronda Nyakairima, said. "Peace is gradually becoming a reality in this region."
Addressing reporters ar Acholi Pii near Gulu town in northern Uganda on Monday, he said the decongestion of camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region would continue. "The purpose of satellite camps is for people to access more land for farming, so the process of decongestion will continue," Aronda added.
The army commander explained that 48 sites for new satellite camps had been identified in Pader District of which 28 are now occupied. Another 36 sites have been identified in Kitgum of which 21 are now occupied. "In Teso and Lango areas, we are implementing a go-home programme. There is increased humanitarian support for the IDPs from both government and NGOs," he said.
He, however, warned the LRA that his forces would hunt down the rebels should ongoing peace talks in the southern Sudanese town of Juba fail. "If the talks fail, we will go for the LRA," he said. "It will be a free-for-all. We know where Owiny Ki-Bul is, we know how long it will take to get there and we know where they will go next. It is a question of telling us there are no more talks and we shall be on them."
The rebels, according to a cessation of hostilities agreement signed between the Ugandan government and the LRA on 26 August, are supposed to assemble at Owiny Ki-Bul in Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State and in Ri-Kwangba in Western Equatoria State, during talks between the two parties. At least 1,600 rebels have assembled at the two sites, according to sources. The LRA commander Joseph Kony has not yet indicated when he will come to the assembly point, although his deputy Vincent Otti was at Ri-Kwangba last week.
Aronda’s remarks appeared to contradict the agreement, which states that in the event of the talks breaking down, the rebels would be allowed to leave the two camps peacefully. But he added: "For those who are lost, the routes are still open. They should continue moving."
On Saturday, LRA delegates in Juba threatened to walk out of the peace talks, claiming the Ugandan army had besieged their fighters at Owiny Ki-Bul. Aronda denied this, saying his troops were 45 km away.
The rebels’ demand that the composition of the government delegation be changed cast further doubt on the talks resuming. On Monday, the delegations separately met southern Sudan’s Vice-President and mediator at the talks, Riek Machar, but there was no immediate sign that they would restart negotiations soon. Sources said a joint team would visit Owiny Ki-Bul on Tuesday to assess the rebel claims.
The rebels also repeated an earlier demand that indictments against their leaders by the International Criminal Court should be dropped. The Hague-based court had indicted Kony, Otti and fellow commanders Dominic Ongwen, Okot Odhiambo and Raska Lukwiya on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Last week, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said the indictments should not be rescinded until the rebel leaders signed a peace deal.
The LRA is blamed for displacing about two million people - including 935,000 children - and forcing them to live in more than 200 camps across northern Uganda in a conflict that has killed thousands.
Aronda said thousands of children kidnapped by the rebels during two decades of war had been rescued from captivity by government forces but many more were still not accounted for. "The remainder cannot be properly accounted for," Aronda said. "Some could still be in the bush, others may have died in the crossfire."
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that up to 25,000 children have been abducted to serve in combat or become sex slaves to male rebel fighters since the LRA war against the Ugandan government started. "Estimates based on available records on the conflict-affected districts show that about 15,000 children have returned during the course of the conflict," Chulho Hyun, UNICEF spokeman in Kampala, said.
Recently, Jan Egeland, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said the rebels had agreed to release 'non-combatants', including women and children. According to some aid agencies in Uganda, about 1,500 children and women are believed to be held in rebel captivity. Local leaders in northern Uganda say the number could be higher.
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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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