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Uganda/DRC/US
LRA says it wants a ceasefire
Article published on the 2009-02-07 Latest update 2009-02-07 11:06 TU
Members of the Uganda army celebrate after over-running the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) camp in Garamba national park in Democratic Republic of Congo in December
( Photo: Reuters )
Ugandan rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army says it wants a ceasefire with government troops, in order to facilitate the restart of peace negotations. Troops from Uganda, Southern Sudan and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo have been conducting joint military operations against the LRA since December 14th after rebel leader Joseph Kony refused to sign a peace accord negotiated with the Uganda government.
Kony had retreated to his hideout in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the LRA is accused of killing hundreds of Congolese and Sudanese civilians, and displacing thousands in northern DRC and Southern Sudan.
"General Joseph Kony gave me clear instructions to say, 'We need a ceasefire'," LRA chief peace negotiator David Matsanga told RFI.
Museveni is telling the world that the LRA should assemble in the Rquamba," said Matsanga, referring to the meeting point where Kony has repeatedly claimed he would go to to sign a ceasefire, but always reneged on at the last minute.
"How can you assemble in the Rquamba when there are fighters, helicopters, waiting on you, to pounce on you any time that you try to walk towards the assembly point?," he added.
In related news, the New York Times reported that the US military funded and aided in the Ugandan army's preparation of an attack on the LRA on 14 in December in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
American advisers used satellite imagery, according to the paper, to find where Kony and his militia were hiding in the bush. Ugandan troops planned to bomb the LRA camp and surround his fighters, but fog delayed the operation. When the maneuver was carried out, it was too late, as LRA militia had largely scattered.
When the LRA emerged from the bush on 25 December, they attacked villagers in the area, killing what some estimate as around 900 civillians.
