UGANDA: Ugandan rebels miss truce deadline

The two top leaders of the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have missed a Tuesday (September 19) deadline to gather at an assembly point on the Sudan-Congo border as part of a truce. LRA leader Joseph Kony and deputy Vincent Otti are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for leading a two-decade war in north Uganda that has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly two million. The ceasefire expired on Tuesday, but Ugandan government negotiators were expected to review the truce with LRA representatives later this week. Some 850 fighters, notorious for slicing lips and ears off victims, had assembled at another location, Owiny-Ki-Bul, east of the Nile in Sudan, in the three weeks since a landmark truce was signed. Most of the fighters at Ri-Kwangba sported dreadlocks and wore an array of fatigues, combat trousers and T-shirts with AK-47 rifles slung over their shoulders. More than half of those sitting in a clearing surrounded by thick woodland, appeared to be in their mid-to-late teens. President Yoweri Museveni had ordered a team to review the traditional "Mato Oput" ceremony of forgiveness which the government is fronting as an alternative to prosecution. The ritual involves a murderer meeting relatives of the victim and admitting his crime before both drink a bitter brew. Museveni initially urged the ICC to issue warrants for the LRA, but is now offering them amnesty if a peace deal is struck. Kony's presence at peace talks in southern Sudan's capital Juba is key to what is widely seen as the best chance to end one of Africa's longest and most brutal wars. CIVIL WAR

ITN Source | September 21, 2006

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