LRA commander claims Kony being harboured near Darfur region

February 20, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen has disclosed that he met with the group’s notorious leader Joseph Kony near Darfur in December 2014, a report by the Small Arms Survey said.

Ongwen surrendered to US troops in the Central African Republic on 5 January and now is in trial by the International Criminal Court in the Hague where he faces seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

“Mr Ongwen stated that on 14 December 2014 he met Kony in an undisclosed location in Darfur,” said the Switzerland-based group in an update released on Friday.

The report pointed that the detained commander made this confession in a private statement.

Ongwen also confirmed the presence of LRA fighters in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the Ugandan troops are not allowed to pursue them.

In December 2014, US-based groups, The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative released a report based on information provided by LRA defectors who revealed that Kony is harboured in the disputed Kafia Kingi enclave on the border of Sudan and South Sudan and in neighbouring areas of Central African Republic.

Sudanese official deny any support to the LRA rebels.

Recently a high-level delegation led by the vice-president Hasabo Abdel Rahman discussed the matter with the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni.

Following his return to Khartoum on 12 February, it was announced that the two countries agreed to form a joint security committee to implement an agreement reached on the presence of rebel groups in both countries.

Khartoum accuses Kampala of harbouring and supporting different rebel groups from Darfur region, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

(ST)