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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
UGANDA: Truce extension to encourage Juba peace process
KAMPALA, 18 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - The two-month extension of the truce between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) should spur the on-off process to settle the conflict that has displaced nearly two million people in the north, spokesmen for both sides said on Monday.
"We signed addendum two of the cessation of hostility agreement last evening and we extended the agreement up to the end of February," Uganda’s interior minister and chief negotiator, Ruhakana Rugunda, told IRIN from Juba, the venue of the talks. "Both parties have re-committed themselves to support the process and expedite it. The rebels will have to assemble in one month and we expect them really to do just that because all the ground has been prepared for their assembly."
The renewal of the August cessation of hostility agreement, which has largely held despite both sides questioning each other’s commitment, obliges the rebels to assemble within a month in two neutral places and urges government forces to observe the new arrangement.
Obonyo Olweny, the LRA spokesman in Juba, said the extension was a "significant move towards the achievement of a comprehensive agreement". He said the LRA forces would assemble both at Owiny Ki-Bul near the Sudanese border with Uganda, and Ri-Kwangba, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. "We also expect the UPDF [Ugandan army] to observe the agreement by not attacking our forces," he said.
However, Ugandan army spokesman Major Felix Kulaije said while the army respected the agreement, the presence of Ugandan troops in the region was outside the peace talks and could only be decided at what he called "a different level".
"In any case the presence of the UPDF in southern Sudan will just augment the peace talks. If we leave southern Sudan as recent road attacks in southern Sudan may suggest, it will be mayhem and that will not be good for the peace talks," Kulaije said.
Peace talks mediated by the southern Sudan government resumed in Juba on Thursday, three weeks after the LRA announced it was walking out, having accused the Ugandan army of ambushing their fighters, which they said was a violation of the August truce.
"Our forces will assemble within one month but the validity of the agreement has been extended to 28 February. It is a significant move towards the achievement of a comprehensive peace agreement," Olweny said by phone from Juba.
The rebels had failed to meet two other deadlines to assemble in the two sites, alleging that the Ugandan army had been deployed around them and the rebel forces faced a risk of attack.
On Monday, the two parties agreed to continue with the talks with little involvement of the mediators as a way to expedite the process, according to rebel officials.
Olweny said smaller groups would be meeting to address aspects of the agenda and speed up the proceedings. "We shall have smaller committees that will meet without bringing in the chief mediator [southern Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar] who will have to be briefed later. This has been done to expedite the process and everything will also be exhaustive rather than just being speedy," Olweny said.
The other hiccup to the talks remains the indictments against five LRA leaders, including its chief Joseph Kony. The rebels have demanded they be withdrawn before a comprehensive agreement is signed.
The five are charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for atrocities against the civilian population of northern Uganda, including mass murder, rape, mutilations and mass abductions.
The rebel officials were contemplating sending a delegation to the ICC to put across their case for withdrawal, but Olweny said this had yet to materialise because it was still being debated. "It an idea that is being floated but a decision has not yet been reached over the issue," he said.
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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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