Warlord’s absence derails peace effort in Uganda
The much anticipated peace agreement with the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army was again delayed after the rebel army’s chief negotiator quit and government officials left a remote jungle camp where the deal was to be settled.
Ugandan officials had seemed tantalizingly close to signing a landmark peace deal with the Lord’s Resistance Army meant to end one of Africa’s longest, most brutal civil wars. Ten thousands of people were slaughtered, and thousands of children were kidnapped and turned into sex slaves and killers.
More than 200 officials, diplomats and journalists had been camping out in a jungle clearing on the Sudan-Congo border waiting for Joseph Kony, the rebel movement’s fugitive leader, to emerge; but he did not. It is to nobody’s surprise that the peace deals have not been signed. The peace deals have been negotiated for quite some time with very little to no cooperation with the LAR. Empty promises and talks of setting up negotiations have been the main ingredient in trying to get to something tangible.
Mr. Kony has been indicted on several human rights violations and says that he will not surrender until the indictments are lifted; it is this stubborn tug of war that keeps the peace from being attained. This is another unfortunate, if not surprising, chapter in the ongoing ordeal that is the Ugandan struggle. It is really disheartening to keep reading about the backpedalling that seems to be going on with the struggle. I suppose only time will tell if peace can be attained.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/world/africa/12uganda.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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