South Sudan enemies can use LRA to destabilize GOSS
Dec 18, 2006 (YEI) — South Sudan government said they are mediating peace talks between Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) because their enemies could use the LRA to destabilize the south.
The chief mediator, Dr. Riek Machar, disclosed that his government is mediating Uganda peace talks because they hope to remove a weapon that their enemies could use to destabilise the south, the Ugandan New Vision reported.
“We hope they sign the peace agreement because if we don’t solve it, the LRA would be a problem for us,” Machar said. “Our good partners – I think you know them – would use the LRA to fight us.”
Machar, who is the Vice-President of South Sudan, on Friday said his government considered the peace talks option as the best for ending the insurgency in northern Uganda.
He was speaking a day after the resumption of the talks in Juba. The talks had stalled after the LRA pulled out, claiming the UPDF had attacked its troops.
The south Sudan government was established under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which gives the south large autonomy. But tensions have been high since fighting erupted in Malakal between south Sudan’s SPLA and militias linked to the Khartoum government.
Machar’s comment came moments after the minister for Legal Affairs and constitutional Reform assured south Sudan commissioners at a meeting that their government had “a solution for the LRA.”
“They will no longer be a source of insecurity,” minister Michael Magwe told the meeting.
The commissioners at the week-long consultative meeting had cited the LRA and militias operating in parts of south Sudan as a major hindrance to the delivery of services.
South Sudan is split into 78 counties, each headed by a commissioner.
“From the time we took on the negotiations for peace, these things (insurgent attacks) have drastically reduced,” Machar said, adding that the best option for peace was to make the LRA sign an agreement with Uganda.
(New Vision)