---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 10:59 AM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Peace talks 'the only viable option' for LRA conflict To: Group <[email protected]>
Uganda: Leaders Want Govt-LRA Talks Moses Akena 7 November 2011The Monitor (Uganda) allAfrica.com Previous botched military attempts to root out the Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and his fighters signal that military confrontations alone will not end the conflict, panelists in a one-week dialogue that closed in Gulu town on Saturday have said. The participants, drawn from diplomatic, political and religious circles, said past interventions by the UPDF and regional armies from South Sudan and DR Congo have instead worsened the situation. Peace talks, they said, is the only viable option for government and regional leaders to embrace now that military operations have proved fruitless. The German ambassador to Uganda, Mr Claus Dieter Duxmann, opened the discussion by saying the experience seen so far makes a case for peace talks as opposed to military actions against the rebels. "We need to promote peace and reconciliation and the issue of LRA can't be dealt with by military means alone," he said. Mr Duxmann, who decried the regional imbalances in development that was occasioned by the LRA, however, pledged that his government and the European Union would support the African Union to deal with the conflict by sending military experts just like America recently did. State Minister for Water Betty Bigombe, who once championed peace negotiations with the rebels at a time most people lived in fear, lauded the 2006 Juba Peace Talks championed by the Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative for the relative peace being enjoyed in northern Uganda. Drawing on the peace talks that ended the Sierra Leone conflict, Ms Bigombe advised government not to trash the documents even if they were not signed by the elusive LRA leader. "I have always told government that even if it (the Juba peace talks agreement) were not signed, it should be implemented. The most important thing is to engage with your enemy, no matter what the situation is," Ms Bigombe said. The Archbishop of Gulu Catholic Archdiocese, the Rev. John Baptist Odama, who participated in the Juba peace talks, estimated the cost of the Operation Lightning Thunder at a whooping Shs500 billion. This, he said, does not make economic sense since the Juba Peace Talks cost only Shs15 billion, adding that Operation Lightning Thunder is to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Congo and the Central African Republic. Archbishop Odama called for a joint effort to tackle the regional spill-over of the conflict. Justice Dan Akiiki Kiiza, the head of the International Crime Division of the High Court, however, said forgiving war criminals would make Uganda lose its status of being a 'civilised country'. He also said since people from different nationalities were affected by the LRA war, the mato oput cultural justice mechanism may not apply in all the situations. http://allafrica.com/stories/201111070377.html END______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
