Ugandan rebels blame army for south Sudan attack
June 15, 2006 (JUBA, South Sudan) — Ugandan rebels on Thursday blamed the Ugandan army for an attack on south Sudan’s capital Juba this week which killed nine people and injured nine others, calling it an attempt to derail talks.
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), known for abducting child fighters and mutilating victims, held a rare news conference in Juba where they are waiting to start peace talks with the Ugandan government mediated by the autonomous south Sudan government.
“The delegation would like to state categorically that … LRA soldiers did not attack Juba or any village nearby,” said Obwony Olweny, the LRA spokesman.
He said Ugandan troops in southern Sudan as part of a now-expired agreement with their neighbour to root out the LRA, were responsible for the attack and were trying to smear them.
“The allegations must have originated from elements bent at derailing the peace process at this early stage and it is a smear campaign against the LRA as has always been done by the Ugandan Government,” he added.
Olweny wore a dark blue suit with a yellow tie, a far cry from the guerrilla fatigues of his colleagues who have roamed the lawless jungles of northern Uganda and southern Sudan for almost two decades.
The United States lists the LRA as a terrorist group and the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first arrest warrants last year for self-proclaimed mystic leader Joseph Kony and his top four commanders.
Despite those warrants, the south Sudan government have refused to arrest Kony, instead giving him money which they say is for him to buy food and stop attacking their civilians, and hosting Kony’s followers in Juba to facilitate talks.
END OF JULY
Kampala have given Kony until the end of July to lay down his weapons and start talks. Some analysts fear Kony is not serious about talks and is buying time to regroup his troops in nearby Democratic Republic of Congo.
Olweny said they were positive about talks, despite previous failed attempts at dialogue. The LRA have no clear political aims and want to rule Uganda by the Ten Commandments.
“We are optimistic of the positive outcome of the talks while waiting here in Juba for the delegation of the Ugandan government to arrive,” he said at a hotel in Juba.
Olweny told reporters that the Sudanese armed forces had in the past given supplies to the LRA, but they were no longer doing so. He added that was because the Ugandan army had supported the former southern Sudanese rebels.
The LRA have chased 1.6 million from their homes in northern Uganda and created an atmosphere of fear that forces children to leave their village homes at night and cram into the nearest urban centre for safety.
Northern Uganda remains a largely forgotten humanitarian crisis.
(Reuters)