Annan Welcomes Ugandan President's Offer to Hold Peace Talks With Rebel Group
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UN News Service (New York)
April 16, 2004
Posted to the web April 16, 2004
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the offer of Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni to negotiate with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to try to
peacefully resolve their conflict in the country's north and east, two days after the
Security Council condemned the rebel group's atrocities against civilians.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Mr. Annan urged the LRA to "refrain from
any further acts of violence against civilians and to respond positively to President
Museveni's call for dialogue."
Calling on the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to Ugandans
affected by the 18-year conflict, the Secretary-General expressed particular concern
about its impact on children.
"All efforts must now be made to ensure a rapid and definitive end to the violence in
the area," spokesperson Marie Okabe said.
Mr. Annan's statement is a response to President Museveni's announcement on Wednesday
reiterating his offer to talk with the LRA, either directly or through intermediaries.
On the same day, a press statement issued by the Security Council's President for
April, Ambassador Gunter Pleuger of Germany, said such crimes as abductions, sexual
violence and sexual exploitation "should not remain unpunished."
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East Africa
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The statement followed a private briefing on Uganda from the Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, who later told
reporters that "a major humanitarian emergency" was unfolding in the African country.
"I would say this is perhaps the most under-reported story in the world today," he
said. "Because where else would there be 10,000 kidnapped children in the course of
only 18 months who have been terrorized into becoming killing machines, terrorized
into attacking their own villages, killing their own relatives?"
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