Ugandan army says top LRA rebel enters DR Congo
Posted by Reuters
Monday, September 19, 2005
By Daniel Wallis
KAMPALA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The deputy leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has entered Congo after striking out west for the first time from his hideouts in the mountains of southern Sudan, Uganda's army said on Monday.
During two decades of war, fighters from the cult-like group had never crossed over the White Nile, supposedly because they feared losing the magical protection of their leader, the self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony.
Uganda's army said Kony's deputy, Vincent Otti, and about 50 fighters forded the river last week before burning homes on the road between the Sudanese towns of Juba and Yei.
By Sunday night he had continued west, reaching the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in the area of remote Garamba National Park, the army said.
"Otti is now in Congo. We believe he crossed sometime late yesterday," said army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Shaban Bantariza.
The army could not say why Otti had gone to Congo, although it appeared to be for purposes of evading capture rather than opening any new front.
Garamba is 170 km (105 miles) northwest of Uganda's Arua town, where Uganda's army chief held talks on Saturday with local officials and members of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, which now controls most of south Sudan.
Bantariza said Kony had not entered Congo with his deputy, and was still thought to be on the run inside southern Sudan.
"We believe he is hiding in an area controlled by Sudanese government troops," Bantariza said.
For 19 years, the LRA has terrorised isolated communities on both sides of Uganda's border with Sudan, uprooting 1.6 million people in northern Uganda alone and triggering what aid workers call one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The group has no clear political goals but is notorious for massacring civilians, mutilating victims and abducting thousands of children as fighters, porters and sex slaves.
Under a 2002 deal with Khartoum, Ugandan troops can pursue the rebels into southern Sudan, but only as far north as the road between the Sudanese towns of Juba and Torit.
Senior Ugandan army officers have long accused some of their Sudanese counterparts of protecting Kony, and say last month the LRA leader retreated behind the so-called "Red Line".
They want Khartoum's permission to cross the road and attack him but say they are disappointed by the response.
The LRA, which is founded on religious symbolism, traditional rites and fear, has never given a clear account of its aims beyond opposing Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni.
Monday, September 19, 2005
By Daniel Wallis
KAMPALA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The deputy leader of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has entered Congo after striking out west for the first time from his hideouts in the mountains of southern Sudan, Uganda's army said on Monday.
During two decades of war, fighters from the cult-like group had never crossed over the White Nile, supposedly because they feared losing the magical protection of their leader, the self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kony.
Uganda's army said Kony's deputy, Vincent Otti, and about 50 fighters forded the river last week before burning homes on the road between the Sudanese towns of Juba and Yei.
By Sunday night he had continued west, reaching the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in the area of remote Garamba National Park, the army said.
"Otti is now in Congo. We believe he crossed sometime late yesterday," said army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Shaban Bantariza.
The army could not say why Otti had gone to Congo, although it appeared to be for purposes of evading capture rather than opening any new front.
Garamba is 170 km (105 miles) northwest of Uganda's Arua town, where Uganda's army chief held talks on Saturday with local officials and members of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army, which now controls most of south Sudan.
Bantariza said Kony had not entered Congo with his deputy, and was still thought to be on the run inside southern Sudan.
"We believe he is hiding in an area controlled by Sudanese government troops," Bantariza said.
For 19 years, the LRA has terrorised isolated communities on both sides of Uganda's border with Sudan, uprooting 1.6 million people in northern Uganda alone and triggering what aid workers call one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The group has no clear political goals but is notorious for massacring civilians, mutilating victims and abducting thousands of children as fighters, porters and sex slaves.
Under a 2002 deal with Khartoum, Ugandan troops can pursue the rebels into southern Sudan, but only as far north as the road between the Sudanese towns of Juba and Torit.
Senior Ugandan army officers have long accused some of their Sudanese counterparts of protecting Kony, and say last month the LRA leader retreated behind the so-called "Red Line".
They want Khartoum's permission to cross the road and attack him but say they are disappointed by the response.
The LRA, which is founded on religious symbolism, traditional rites and fear, has never given a clear account of its aims beyond opposing Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni.
posted by chocolate_eyes @ 9:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home