Ugandan rebel leader rejects peace without ICC suspension

November 30, 2008 (JUBA) – The Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony has refused for the third time to sign a peace deal with Kampala sticking to his initial position that an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be cancelled first.

The mediator had fixed the 30 November as final date for the elusive rebel leader to approve a peace deal reached last April with his delegation in peace talks mediated by the southern Sudan government.

The ICC has repeatedly refused to withdraw the charges against Kony and his commanders in what is seen as a test case for the fledgling human rights court.

Joseph Kony told on Sunday a delegation of dignitaries and religious leaders that he would not ink the negotiated peace agreement unless the ICC suspends the arrest warrant issued against him.

Kony had failed to sign the final peace agreement in April and May this year.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Kony and two other top LRA commanders, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen, in July 2005.

Uganda says it would ask the deferral to the UN Security Council only when Kony signs the agreement.

The rebels have been waging the war in northern Uganda for 21 years, claiming to have been fighting against marginalization of the people of Northern and North-eastern Uganda by the Kampala-based regime.

The brutal conflict in Northern Uganda is blamed for the displacement of nearly 2 million people – now reportedly returning to their places of origin – and the death of tens of thousands more in the region.

(ST)