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| UGANDA 21/12/2004 12:06 |
| PEACE NEGOTIATIONS: INTERIOR MINISTER TO MEET LRA SECOND IN COMMAND |
![Peace/Justice]() |
Peace/Justice, Brief |
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Uganda�s interior minister Ruhakana Rugunda is to lead a top-level government delegation to Ngomo-romo, a small village in Lamwo county on the border with Sudan, outside the government-declared ceasefire zone, over the next few days to meet the leaders of LRA (Lord�s Resistance Army) in the ambit of the ongoing peace process to find a negotiated solution to the 18-year crisis in northern Uganda. The local press reports that the mission also includes former minister Betty Bigombe, who has been tasked by President Yoweri Museveni with conducting negotiations. No date has officially been set for the meeting, but it is rumoured that it could take place tomorrow. The rebels are to be represented by their second-in-command, Vincent Otti, who is allegedly returning from South Sudan following talks with the movement�s founder and leader, Joseph Kony. �The soldiers have no intention of disturbing the peace init
iatives
underway. We will give all LRA action the benefit of the doubt and we will not attack the rebels within the no-fire zones declared by the President,� said the army spokesman in the northern region Paddy Ankunda, responding to rumours that there are extremist fringes within the army that mean to boycott talks. �The people in Kitgum, Lira, Gulu and Pader have been following the events of the last few weeks with great apprehension and they have called repeatedly for the negotiations between the rebels and the government to continue without anyone trying to derail them,� the Archbishop of Gulu, monsignor John Baptist Odama told MISNA recently. Since the outbreak of the conflict in 1986, the "LRA" has killed over 100.000 people, kidnapped 25.000 minors and forced 1-1.5 million people to abandon their homes. [LC]
Kaguta CANNOT be trusted to engage in any | |
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