CAR Leader Says Kony Ready to Surrender
by VOA News November 21, 2013
The president of the Central African Republic says he is in contact with fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony, and that Kony wants to surrender.
A spokesman for President Michel Djotodia says Djotodia has held a phone conversation with Kony, and that Kony said he is ready to put down his arms and come in from the bush.
The spokesman, Gason Mackouzangba, said Mr. Djotodia told political leaders about this development during a meeting Thursday in the capital, Bangui.
According to the spokesman, Mr. Djotodia said Kony is in the region of Nzako with about 7,000 fighters, and the CAR government has been providing food and medicine to the fighters for the past few weeks.
Nzako is on the southern edge of the CAR, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kony has been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Specific charges include murder, rape, sexual enslavement, cruel treatment of civilians, and forced enlistment of children.
His Lord's Resistance Army waged a brutal guerilla war against the Ugandan government for nearly 20 years before fleeing into central Africa around 2005.
A force of 5,000 African soldiers, led by Uganda and aided by U.S. special forces, has been hunting Kony and his fighters in the jungles of the CAR, Congo, and South Sudan.
The effort to find them has been hindered by the chaos in the CAR, which has experienced months of violence and lawlessness since Djotodia came to power in March, after the Seleka rebel coaltion overthrew President Francois Bozize.
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