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30/07/2006 |
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The deputy leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) ventured out of the bush on Saturday for a meeting on the Sudan-Congo border with a delegation seeking to persuade the rebels to agree to peace. Laughing and cracking jokes, south Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar -- who wants to broker a deal to end the two-decade insurgency -- sat under a tree in a plastic chair to receive the LRA's internationally wanted second in command, Vincent Otti. The LRA launched one of the world's most brutal insurrections from north Uganda 20 years ago, later moving to south Sudan and lately hiding out in the jungles of east Congo. Machar's delegation included wives and children of LRA rebel commanders keen to persuade their men to lay down arms. About 40 rebels, some in their early teens and many wearing their trademark dreadlocks and mismatched fatigues, stood guard as the relatives, elders and religious leaders from northern Uganda and southern Sudan met with Otti. "We want peace," one LRA captain, who gave his name as Sunday, told elders who assembled under a white tent in the clearing, which lies almost exactly on Sudan's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Journalists were allowed to attend on condition that they did not reveal the exact location. The cult-like LRA movement is accused of killing civilians and mutilating victims in a brutal war against Uganda's government that has uprooted nearly two million people in the north and killed tens of thousands. Otti had swapped his uniform for a light coloured short-sleeved shirt and trousers, although other senior LRA officers there kept their green fatigues. WAITING FOR KONY Soldiers from south Sudan's rebels-turned-military, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, also stood guard in the clearing, where they had slashed grass and set up thatched huts. LRA leader Joseph Kony did not attend the initial meeting on Saturday, but mediators said he would attend the formal talks, due to take place on Sunday. During the initial meeting, rebel officers embraced and shook hands with members of the Ugandan delegation, which includes several government officials. As well as Otti, another of the five LRA commanders wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Okot Odhiambo, also attended. "I'm moderately optimistic," said Mario Giro, a mediator with the Rome-based mediation organisation Sant'Egidio. "The rebels in the bush appear to be happy with how the process is going so far," he told Reuters. The delegation wants to convince Kony he will be safe to go back to his native Uganda if he agrees to a peace deal that LRA representatives and Uganda's government hope to reach in south Sudan's capital of Juba. On Monday, the talks adjourned for a week of consultations. Kony is also wanted for war crimes by the ICC, but Uganda has promised to protect LRA leaders if a deal is reached.
Matthew Green
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