VARIOUS: Uganda rebel LRA leader appears at meeting and calls for cessation of hostilities -- but negotiator fails to show for talks

Record ID: 1537942

  • Title: VARIOUS: Uganda rebel LRA leader appears at meeting and calls for cessation of hostilities -- but negotiator fails to show for talks
  • Date: 4th August 2006
  • Summary: (EU) UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, SUDAN-CONGO BORDER (AUGUST 1, 2006) (REUTERS) LORD'S RESISTANCE ARMY (LRA) MEMBERS WALKING TO TALKS VENUE LRA LEADER JOSEPH KONY (ALL IN WHITE) WALKING WITH HIS FIGHTERS KONY GREETING UGANDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN DELEGATIONS KONY TALKING TO JOURNALISTS SOUTH SUDAN VICE PRESIDENT RIEK MACHAR HOLDING HIS CHIN LRA FIGHTERS SEATED UNDER A TREE LRA FIGHTER YOUNG LRA FIGHTER IGNORING OFF-CAMERA QUESTION: "You are from the LRA?" (SOUNDBITE)(English) LORD'S RESISTANCE ARMY SPOKESMAN OBONYO OLWENY READING OUT STATEMENT FROM LEADER JOSEPH KONY SAYING: "We wish to categorically state that no meaningful negotiations can take place without cessation of hostilities, we therefore demand an agreement on cessation of hostilities before any meaningful talks can proceed." LRA LEADER SHAKING HANDS WITH HIS RELATIVES HEAVILY ARMED LRA FIGHTERS GUARDING CAMP MORE OF LRA FIGHTERS HOLDING GUNS (SOUNDBITE)(English) LORD'S RESISTANCE ARMY LEADER JOSEPH KONY SAYING: "Those atrocities which was happened in Uganda, that is not me or that is not my people, atrocities which was taking in Uganda was done by Uganda government, only that I don't have means or I don't have good communication to the world which can inform the people that things which happened was not LRA, but the government they have many machinery to inform the world what was happened" HEAVILY ARMED REBELS ESCORTING THEIR LEADER FROM THE TALKS
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2006 22:34
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAORF32Q4ZXYDGBPO4YP3VV0QQ
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The deputy leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels said on Thursday (August 3) he would not meet a request by mediators to attend peace talks in south Sudan's capital Juba, saying he feared arrest.
    Vincent Otti, who is wanted by for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), told Reuters that the meeting was a trap, and if he went he would be captured and sent to the Hague.
    He said he would only attend talks in person if the ICC dropped the charges against him. Four other senior LRA commanders, including top man Joseph Kony, are also wanted by the ICC.
    The LRA launched one of the world's most brutal insurrections from northern Uganda 20 years ago, killing and mutilating civilians, before moving to south Sudan and lately hiding out in the jungles of east Democratic Republic of Congo.
    The war between the LRA and Uganda's government has uprooted nearly two million people and killed tens of thousands, as well as destabilising southern Sudan.
    Mediation in the 20-year-long conflict is being led by neighbouring South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, who said on Wednesday (August 2) that the rebels had promised to send Vincent Otti to talks.
    Machar said he told the delegates to return to their base in Congo until they could produce Otti.
    Machar said that Kony had assured him during a meeting near the border on Tuesday (August 3) that Otti would attend the talks in person.
    Machar said he wanted both the LRA and Ugandan government to agree to a cessation of hostilities -- which he said would mean both sides stopping fighting and refraining from hostile propaganda -- before talks resume.
    Kony's appearance on Tuesday was effectively his first news conference in 20 years of rebellion.
    In a statement read out by a spokesman, Kony said: "We wish to categorically state that no meaningful negotiations can take place without a cessation of hostilities, we therefore demand for a cessation of hostilities before any meaningful talks can begin."
    Kony denied that the LRA was responsible for atrocities in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, saying that the Ugandan army committed them.
    "Those atrocities which was happened in Uganda, that is not me or that is not my people, atrocities which was taking in Uganda was done by Uganda government, only that I don't have means or I don't have good communication to the world which can inform the people that things which happened was not LRA, but the government they have many machinery to inform the world what was happened," Kony said.
    He also denied abducting children, despite the presence of several young men who looked to be in their early teens among at least 80 LRA fighters who guarded the clearing where the meeting took place.
    Mediators regard his appearance in a clearing near the forested frontier as a step forward for the talks, which began in south Sudan's capital Juba on July 14.
    The government said it welcomed Kony's call for a ceasefire, but would only sign a ceasefire as part of a final peace agreement.
    Meanwhile Otti on Thursday said he was losing faith in the mediation of Machar, accusing him of scheming to have him arrested should he appear in Juba.
    He said he would prefer the talks to continue in a country outside Sudan if possible.
    Kampala would issue a reaction to Otti's comments on Friday, a Ugandan government spokesman said.
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