Uganadan rebel leader fleeing towards Ethiopia

KAMPALA, Mar 24, 2005 (New Vision) — Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels are now in Bor in Jonglei, moving towards the Sudan/ Ethiopia border.
Intelligence sources said the rebels had temporarily camped at Mangala, far north of the southern Sudanese city of Juba.

“There are indications that the rebels are heading to either Bor or the Ethiopian border. They are fleeing from intensive pressure inside Uganda and Sudan,” a source said.

Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza said, “I think they are heading to the Ethiopian border. I have confirmed that Kony and Vincent Otti are in the group.”

He said the UPDF was considering seeking permission from Sudan to pursue the rebels.

“I think we deserve to be cleared. Ever since we went behind the former red-lines near Juba, we have achieved tremendous success against the rebels,” Bantariza said.

Kony’s flight deeper into Sudan puts more pressure on the Sudan People’s Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to locate and capture him. UPDF soldiers are deployed in eastern Equatoria province as part of a protocol between Khartoum and Kampala.

Kony’s departure also means that hopes of ending the war through peaceful means have died. Betty Bigombe, the chief mediator of the peace process, also returned to the US, where she works for the World Bank.