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That stick could be on E-Bay! -----Original Message----- What ever happened to KONY's"walking
stick"?... me thought the UPDF captured it!! Matek Uganda: Security in the North Tightened, Says Army Email This
Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site UN Integrated Regional Information Networks April 22, 2004 Posted to the web April 22, 2004 Kampala The Ugandan army has said that the recent foiling of
an attempt by rebels to attack northern Uganda's largest internally displaced
persons (IDPs) camp, near Gulu town, is evidence that "security in the
north is now tighter than ever". The army said it had prevented a group of Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) rebels from attacking Pabbo camp on 16 April, killing a
rebel commander called Charles Abola and his second-in-command, Denis Olweny. Speaking to IRIN by telephone on Wednesday, the army
spokesman for the north, Paddy Ankunda, said the LRA, including its
second-in-command, Vincent Otti, had infiltrated Gulu, because "they have
nowhere else left to hide". "We've tightened every sector: Lira,
Kitgum, Pader. So there's a lot of infiltration in Gulu as the pressure in Lira
forces them to run west. Of course there is food in Gulu, which they are
running low on," he said. "[The LRA leader, Joseph] Kony is still in Sudan,
but he is running out of space. If he dares come to Uganda, he will be killed,"
he warned. Army sources say other previously troubled districts,
such as Lira, where hundreds of civilians have been killed by rebels in recent
months, are now quiet. But local government sources warned against
complacency. Peter Olwenyi, the mayor of Lira town, told IRIN that "there
have been no recent incidents around Lira, so we can say there is relative
peace, but I wouldn't call it secure yet". The Catholic archbishop of Gulu, John Baptist Odama, a
prominent peace campaigner, said he doubted the army's claims to have secured
the north. "The situation is still as insecure as before," he said.
"We have not seen a significant improvement. Around Gulu, people are still
very fearful in their movements." Relevant Links East Africa Refugees and Displacement Civil War and Communal Conflict Uganda "Not all the camps are protected. They [the army]
need to ask the people in each one if they are safe," Odama told IRIN. The LRA, who have waged an 18-year old war against the
Ugandan government, killed more than 300 IDPs in February when they attacked a
camp in Barlonyo, near Lira town. The army blamed the deaths on the laxity of
local commanders who, it said, had allowed the IDPs to set up a camp in an area
that was not well protected. -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system
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- ugnet_: security in the North Tightened...says Army Matekopoko
- Ed Kironde
