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UN troops leave Kony hideout
MEN IN GREEN: Kony (in blue beret), Otti (in glasses) and other LRA officers at a meeting with the SPLA By Emmy Allio and Els De Temmerman MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, has withdrawn its intervention force from Aba, the town closest to Garamba National Park. The park in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a sanctuary for the leaders of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti, indicted by the International Criminal Court over crimes against humanity. The withdrawal of the troops dashes all hopes for a UN intervention in apprehending the top LRA leadership. The UN presence in the Garamba region has been scaled down to six military observers, two of whom are on a break at any one time. One company of 150 Nepalese soldiers was deployed in Aba in October 2005, said Carmine Camerini, Public Information Officer of MONUC in Aru. They were replaced by Senegalese soldiers in December 2005, who were withdrawn in April. We redeployed one platoon of 35 Nepalese soldiers following the alleged infiltration by UPDF on April 26. The Nepalese were withdrawn on May 19, leaving a team of six military observers on the ground, Camerini said. MONUC said the force was no longer necessary as they have no information about LRA presence in the Congo. Camerini said MONUC carried out three verification missions, including one immediately after October 7, when Ottis group was escorted back to Sudan. Another verification exercise took place between February 14 and 16 and a third one in late April. We found no confirmation of LRA presence in Aba and the surroundings, he said. MONUC is also casting doubts on a meeting they held with LRA representatives in Aba on September 25, 2005. We dont know if they were LRA, said Camerini, who was present at the meeting, according to a picture in The New Visions possession. Confronted with an admission by Kony last week that he is in the Congo, Camerini said, It is not in MONUCs interest to fight the LRA. We are not a business enterprise. We have elections in Congo, which are more important to us. Ends Published on: Saturday, 27th May, 2006 The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
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