LRA return to Garamba
Oct 14, 2006
PROGRESS at the Juba peace talks is now hanging in balance after senior Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commanders and “genuine†fighters left Owiny Ki-Bul assembling point and entered Garamba National Park a few days ago.
By Emmy Allio
PROGRESS at the Juba peace talks is now hanging in balance after senior Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commanders and “genuine†fighters left Owiny Ki-Bul assembling point and entered Garamba National Park a few days ago.
The estimated 200 LRA fighters were led to Garamba by Brig. Dominic Ongwen, LRA’s overall intelligence officer Brig. Caesar Accellam and operations commander Lt. Col. Okello Okuti. ,Ongwen is one of the four LRA leaders indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Security sources said the rebels travelled northwards from Owiny Ki-Bul and crossed River Nile to Western Equatoria State at a point north of Juba.
They walked north of Yei town before entering Garamba through Nabanga in Maridi zone.
“They have joined their leaders in Garamba. The territory they used was under SPLA control and we bear no responsibility for whatever will happen,†said a senior Ugandan security source.
“As far as we are concerned, the real LRA fighters are now out of the Owiny Ki-Bul area in Eastern Equatoria state. The LRA has now fully regrouped in Garamba and whoever remains in or outside Owiny Ki-Bul are women, children and the unwanted,†the sources said.
The latest development puts more pressure on the chief mediator of the talks, Dr. Riek Machar and the Government of South Sudan (GoSS).
Last week, Sudan People’s Liberation Army deployed around Owiny Ki-Bul following LRA claims that the Uganda People’s Defence Force had deployed around the assembling point.
Sources said when the UPDF learnt of LRA’s plan to cross River Nile, it deployed along the river, forcing Ongwen’s group to move north of Juba.
Sources in Juba said whatever was happening at the peace talks appeared to be a time-wasting strategy by the rebel group.
The unification of the entire LRA group in Garamba comes at a time when the LRA has struck a deal to ally with the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in Congo.
During the movement of the group to Garamba, the LRA delegation in Juba said the rebels would not sign a peace agreement with the government if the international arrest warrants for their leaders were not dropped.
Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen and the late Raska Lukwiya are wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC recently renewed pressure for their arrests.
During Independence Day celebrations, President Yoweri Museveni accused the LRA of trying to avoid a trial of its leaders by dragging their feet in the talks.
Museveni offered the rebels amnesty against prosecution, despite condemnation by human rights groups, saying peace was more important than a trial.
PROGRESS at the Juba peace talks is now hanging in balance after senior Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commanders and “genuine†fighters left Owiny Ki-Bul assembling point and entered Garamba National Park a few days ago.
The estimated 200 LRA fighters were led to Garamba by Brig. Dominic Ongwen, LRA’s overall intelligence officer Brig. Caesar Accellam and operations commander Lt. Col. Okello Okuti. ,Ongwen is one of the four LRA leaders indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Security sources said the rebels travelled northwards from Owiny Ki-Bul and crossed River Nile to Western Equatoria State at a point north of Juba.
They walked north of Yei town before entering Garamba through Nabanga in Maridi zone.
“They have joined their leaders in Garamba. The territory they used was under SPLA control and we bear no responsibility for whatever will happen,†said a senior Ugandan security source.
“As far as we are concerned, the real LRA fighters are now out of the Owiny Ki-Bul area in Eastern Equatoria state. The LRA has now fully regrouped in Garamba and whoever remains in or outside Owiny Ki-Bul are women, children and the unwanted,†the sources said.
The latest development puts more pressure on the chief mediator of the talks, Dr. Riek Machar and the Government of South Sudan (GoSS).
Last week, Sudan People’s Liberation Army deployed around Owiny Ki-Bul following LRA claims that the Uganda People’s Defence Force had deployed around the assembling point.
Sources said when the UPDF learnt of LRA’s plan to cross River Nile, it deployed along the river, forcing Ongwen’s group to move north of Juba.
Sources in Juba said whatever was happening at the peace talks appeared to be a time-wasting strategy by the rebel group.
The unification of the entire LRA group in Garamba comes at a time when the LRA has struck a deal to ally with the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in Congo.
During the movement of the group to Garamba, the LRA delegation in Juba said the rebels would not sign a peace agreement with the government if the international arrest warrants for their leaders were not dropped.
Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen and the late Raska Lukwiya are wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC recently renewed pressure for their arrests.
During Independence Day celebrations, President Yoweri Museveni accused the LRA of trying to avoid a trial of its leaders by dragging their feet in the talks.
Museveni offered the rebels amnesty against prosecution, despite condemnation by human rights groups, saying peace was more important than a trial.