Kony Rebels Plot To Kill Salim Saleh
THE Government has suspended peace efforts in the north for a week because the rebels are plotting to kill chief negotiator Lt Gen Salim Saleh and his team,
THE Government has suspended peace efforts in the north for a week because the rebels are plotting to kill chief negotiator Lt Gen Salim Saleh and his team, reports James Odong.
Sources said yesterday the plot was uncovered by Intelligence. They said the team was expected in Kitgum and Pader districts next week but President Yoweri Museveni had ordered them to wait until he returns to Gulu to assess the situation.
The sources said Intelligence agencies intercepted communications from rebel chief Joseph Kony instructing his field commanders to capture Saleh, minister Betty Akech Okullo and the other negotiators and deliver them to him for ‘interrogation’.
They said Kony directed his commanders to abduct another peace envoy and Pader woman MP Santa Okot for a wife.
“The commander-in-chief (Museveni) has been informed about this new development and he has accordingly suspended the mobilisation activities of the team until adequate security measures are instituted,†sources said.
The envoys, who returned to Kampala from Gulu over the weekend, would not comment on the reports yesterday.
Spokeswoman Akech said, “Most of us are back in Kampala for one week of reflection as we wait for communication from the rebels over the next meeting but contacts have not been discontinued.â€
She said religious and cultural leaders were still working and the team was expecting communication from the rebels this weekend.
Intelligence said the rebels want to meet Saleh, Akech and the others without their escorts “perhaps to make it easy for the rebels to harm them.â€
“They (LRA rebels) would have probably achieved their ulterior motives by now if we were not vigilant,†a source said.
Akech said the peace process has not come to a halt, saying the one-week suspension was meant to evaluate the team’s successes and challenges.
She said the recent killing of Capt. Okech Kuru, a peace emissary, who had taken mobile phones, money, drugs and recorders to the rebels indicated the rebels are not committed to peace.
“Reports from former captives suggest that there is no willingness by the LRA to talk peace, but we shall continue pursuing peace even if it means kneeling before the rebels,†Akech said.
Akech wondered how the rebels could violate their own ceasefire and expect to convince Ugandans that they were trustworthy.
Saleh has threatened to withdraw from the peace effort saying the rebels are not serious.
“I have not seen any signs of willingness to talk peace on the part of the rebels,†said Saleh who described himself as the field officer of the Presidential Peace team.
“Out of the 45 days I have been here in the north, 28 of them have been abused by the rebels,†he added.
“Kony is too much guided by supernatural powers which makes him inconsistent and difficult to negotiate with,†Akech said.
“All his commanders believe in his spiritual powers and can do whatever they are instructed to do,†she added.
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Sources said yesterday the plot was uncovered by Intelligence. They said the team was expected in Kitgum and Pader districts next week but President Yoweri Museveni had ordered them to wait until he returns to Gulu to assess the situation.
The sources said Intelligence agencies intercepted communications from rebel chief Joseph Kony instructing his field commanders to capture Saleh, minister Betty Akech Okullo and the other negotiators and deliver them to him for ‘interrogation’.
They said Kony directed his commanders to abduct another peace envoy and Pader woman MP Santa Okot for a wife.
“The commander-in-chief (Museveni) has been informed about this new development and he has accordingly suspended the mobilisation activities of the team until adequate security measures are instituted,†sources said.
The envoys, who returned to Kampala from Gulu over the weekend, would not comment on the reports yesterday.
Spokeswoman Akech said, “Most of us are back in Kampala for one week of reflection as we wait for communication from the rebels over the next meeting but contacts have not been discontinued.â€
She said religious and cultural leaders were still working and the team was expecting communication from the rebels this weekend.
Intelligence said the rebels want to meet Saleh, Akech and the others without their escorts “perhaps to make it easy for the rebels to harm them.â€
“They (LRA rebels) would have probably achieved their ulterior motives by now if we were not vigilant,†a source said.
Akech said the peace process has not come to a halt, saying the one-week suspension was meant to evaluate the team’s successes and challenges.
She said the recent killing of Capt. Okech Kuru, a peace emissary, who had taken mobile phones, money, drugs and recorders to the rebels indicated the rebels are not committed to peace.
“Reports from former captives suggest that there is no willingness by the LRA to talk peace, but we shall continue pursuing peace even if it means kneeling before the rebels,†Akech said.
Akech wondered how the rebels could violate their own ceasefire and expect to convince Ugandans that they were trustworthy.
Saleh has threatened to withdraw from the peace effort saying the rebels are not serious.
“I have not seen any signs of willingness to talk peace on the part of the rebels,†said Saleh who described himself as the field officer of the Presidential Peace team.
“Out of the 45 days I have been here in the north, 28 of them have been abused by the rebels,†he added.
“Kony is too much guided by supernatural powers which makes him inconsistent and difficult to negotiate with,†Akech said.
“All his commanders believe in his spiritual powers and can do whatever they are instructed to do,†she added.
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