Official: Ugandan children at risk
With rebels kidnapping children, forcing them into slavery
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GULU, Uganda -- Children are at risk in war-ravaged northern Uganda as long as the rebel leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, is alive, a top local official said on Friday.
Fighters from the cult-like LRA have kidnapped some 20,000 children during a 19-year insurgency against the government, forcing them to serve as soldiers, porters and sex slaves.
"As long as Kony and his higher echelons are alive and kicking, I cannot guarantee the safety of these children," said Colonel Walter Ochora, chairman of Gulu district at the centre of the conflict.
"The man has not changed his religion, and killing is very normal to him. In fact, it makes him stronger spiritually."
Ochora was addressing a delegation led by Ann Veneman, the new global head of the U.N. children's charity UNICEF.
Ochora said tentative contacts with the LRA that raised hopes for peace late last year had since stalled, mainly due to a lack of commitment from Kony, who is believed to be hiding in the lawless mountains of southern Sudan.
Both sides have stepped up attacks after dialogue broke down with the surrender of the main LRA negotiator in February.
"There is no sign these people are interested (in peace)," Ochora said. "They are stubbornly refusing to co-operate... There is no hope, they are always just giving excuses."
Veneman was in Uganda to see at first hand the suffering of children in the north, where an estimated 1.6 million people -- most of them women and children -- have been forced from their homes by the fighting.
The United Nations says northern Uganda is one of the world's worst and most-neglected humanitarian emergencies.
"We are very concerned about the plight of the children here, and about the impact of 19 years of war in this region," Veneman said. "The fact that children are the main targets of this war is unconscionable."
She said UNICEF was significantly increasing programmes in the north, but gave no immediate details.
On Friday, Veneman met children who were rescued or escaped from the rebels, and was due to meet children who trek into Gulu town every night out of fear of the rebels.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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