SUDAN: Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony delays signing a peace deal with the government

Record ID: 349019

  • Title: SUDAN: Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony delays signing a peace deal with the government
  • Date: 11th April 2008
  • Summary: (W4) RIKWANGBA, SOUTHERN SUDAN, (APRIL 10, 2008) (REUTERS) SOUTH SUDAN VICE PRESIDENT RIEK MACHAR WALKING TOWARDS UGANDA GOVERNMENT DELEGATION REIK MACHAR WELCOMING UGANDA GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VARIOUS OF RIEK MACHAR AND UGANDA GOVERNMENT DELEGATION ARRIVING AT THE VENUE FOR PEACE TALKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOUTHERN SUDAN VICE PRESIDENT RIEK MACHAR SAYING: "He has asked t
  • Embargoed: 26th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sudan
  • Country: Sudan
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8GBMO0ML3ZEVKS69BEQJODA8U
  • Story Text: Uganda's fugitive rebel commander Joseph Kony has delayed signing a final peace deal with the government and instead asked for clarification of some parts of the agreement, mediators said.
    Following the delay in signing the peace deal, Kony's negotiator David Nyekorach-Matsanga quit his post.
    South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, who has chaired talks between Kampala and Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) since mid-2006, said the guerrilla chief was ready to sign but did not understand elements of the document.
    "He has asked to be briefed, he has also asked to have a meeting with me which I accept after he meets the bishops and cultural leaders then we meet, so these is the situation now. The cultural leaders and the bishops have gone to brief him, I will wait if they finish before sunset then we will have a meeting," said Riek Machar.
    He said Kony was uncertain about the alternative justice mechanisms Uganda's government plans to use to deal with war crimes in place of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued warrants for Kony and two of his top deputies.
    Kony's 22-year rebellion killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted 2 million more in northern Uganda and also destabilised neighbouring parts of southern Sudan and eastern Congo.
    ICC prosecutors in The Hague accuse the three suspects of multiple war crimes including rape, murder and the abduction of thousands of children as fighters, porters and sex slaves.
    Even if Kony does sign a final peace deal, the rebels have vowed never to disarm until the indictments are scrapped.
    Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is due to sign the agreement separately on April 15 in south Sudan's capital Juba.
    His government has said it will only call for the ICC warrants to be lifted after a final deal is reached. It was not clear whether that meant the rebels have to disarm first too but the government negotiators were full of confidence Kony would sign the deal and only needed some clarification.
    "We came expecting the peace process will advance and as far as we are concerned it is still advancing, Kony seeking explanations is the fact that he believes in the peace process and he wants to be thoroughly explained the issue before he signs, so what is taking place is really a normal process giving further confidence to the peace process," said Uganda government main negotiator Dr. Ruhakana Rubanga.
    The ICC has said its warrants for Kony and the two other commanders -- Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen -- remain active. But the U.N. Security Council could ask the Hague-based court to put them on hold if members see a real chance for peace.
    In a bid to convince the ICC the matter can be handled internally, Kampala and the rebels have agreed to set up a special division of Uganda's High Court to deal with war crimes.
    Kony wants more details on how the special court will work, in tandem with the traditional northern Mato Oput reconciliation rituals which the government proposes using too, Machar said.
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