Uganda LRA to go home, truce in jeopardy
Source: Reuters
(Edits) By Tim Cocks KAMPALA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels said on Monday they want to leave assembly areas in south Sudan and head back to Uganda in a move the army warned would restart a vicious 20-year war. "We are unwelcome in Sudan so they have to go back to Uganda," LRA spokesman Obonyo Olweny told Reuters by telephone from Nairobi. "We foresee that is the only logical option." But army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said the LRA would be attacked if they tried to cross back into Uganda. "We shall hit them," he said. "Any attempt to come back to northern Uganda would be taken as a resumption of war." Aid agencies fear the LRA -- one of Africa's most feared rebel groups -- could wreak havoc on a population traumatised by war if they went back to Uganda. LRA fighters are notorious for killing civilians, mutilating victims and abducting children. A landmark truce signed in August had raised hopes of an end to a two-decade civil war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced 1.7 million. The truce renewed in November gave the rebels until the end of January to gather in two places in southern Sudan -- on the borders of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near LRA leaders' jungle hideouts. The LRA's comments came days after they said they would not resume talks in the south Sudanese capital, Juba, because of concerns for their security after Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir vowed to "get rid of the LRA from Sudan." The stop-start peace process has faltered in recent months, with both sides accusing each other of violations and the LRA accusing mediators in south Sudan's government of failing to stop the Ugandan army attacking them in Sudan. FIREPOWER LRA spokesman Olweny said the group east of the Nile who were supposed to meet near the Uganda border would probably go back to Uganda. "They know they can't stop us going back. If necessary we shall use our firepower," Olweny said. But he added the LRA high command had not yet issued a final order sending the fighters back. LRA commanders were unavailable for comment. The new U.N. envoy for Uganda's conflict, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, left Uganda for Juba on Monday to attend the planned resumption of talks. Riek Machar, the chief mediator, on Monday said he hoped the talks could be restarted. "The stage that they have reached is very advanced; we are bound to lose out if they interrupt the talks. There is no other venue," Machar told Reuters in Juba. But Olweny said the LRA would not join talks in Juba. Many Ugandans fear the LRA will never make peace unless the International Criminal Court revokes indictments for war crimes against their top five leaders. (Reporting by Skye Wheeler in Juba)
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