Uganda agrees to conditional ceasefire with rebel LRA
Aug 25, 2006 (KAMPALA) — Ugandan government has agreed to a conditional cessation of hostilities with rebels to end a brutal 19-year insurgency in the north of the country, officials said Friday.
The deal is dependent on the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army sending its fighters to assembly points in southern Sudan and northern Uganda where they could be monitored, Uganda’s deputy defense minister, Ruth Nankabirwa, told journalists at a news conference.
She said the government will provide safe passage and that the third and final component of the agreement is that a neutral third party act as observers to make sure all sides comply.
The conditions were put to the Lord’s Resistance Army negotiating team in Juba, southern Sudan, on Thursday. Discussions between the two negotiating teams were ongoing Friday.
No official response has yet been made by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Nankabirwa said the cease-fire could be in place in a matter of weeks if both sides agree.
“We are so optimistic that it’s going to work out,” said Nankabirwa. “We are ready to make sure that we take this action to receive our brothers and sisters who will agree to assemble.”
The government had previously refused to agree on a cessation of hostilities before signing a comprehensive peace agreement, citing abuse of previous cease-fires by the rebels.
The Lord’s Resistance Army has already declared a cease-fire but several of its fighters have been killed in recent weeks by Ugandan forces.
Talks between the two foes began in Juba in July, but disagreements over whether to declare a cease-fire first and then negotiate a comprehensive agreement have led to delays and temporary walkouts by both sides.
The government of Sudan’s autonomous southern region is mediating the peace process.
South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, held talks with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday. In a joint news conference after the closed-door meeting, Kiir announced that should the peace process fail both Ugandan and south Sudanese forces would fight the rebels.
Under the terms of the peace talks, a cessation of hostilities involves an end to fighting and propaganda. A full fledged cease-fire will involve more technical issues like demobilization, disarmament and reintegration of troops.
Thousands of civilians have died in the conflict and 1.7 million have fled their homes, according to relief organizations.
The Lord’s Resistance Army is made up of the remnants of a rebellion that began after President Museveni took power in 1986. The group is known for abducting thousands of children and forcing them to become fighters, servants or sex slaves.
During last month’s negotiations, rebel representatives said that their group’s aim is to draw attention to the government’s neglect of northern and eastern Uganda, even though previously they had no clear political agenda.
In the past, rebel leader Joseph Kony has called for Uganda to be governed according to the Bible’s Ten Commandments.
The Lord’s Resistance Army doesn’t hold any Ugandan territory.
(AP/ST)