LRA denies killing claims
2007-11-09 12:37
Nairobi - A spokesperson for notorious Ugandan rebel group - the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) - on Friday denied media reports that a senior movement commander had been killed by its leader Joseph Kony in a power struggle between the two.
LRA spokesperson Geoffrey Ayoo was however unable to say when he had last heard from LRA commander Vincent Otti, who was wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Ayoo from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said: "I cannot tell his exact location, but Vincent Otti is alive. He will speak soon. The fact that he is absent or not able to talk on the phone does not mean he is dead."
Reports of Otti's death surfaced in Ugandan media this week, overshadowing a visit by an LRA delegation to northern Uganda, to meet victims of its epic 20-year insurgency.
Ugandan media reported this week that elusive LRA leader Kony killed Otti amid differences on how to proceed with ongoing peace talks with the Ugandan government to end the brutal conflict that had displaced at least 1.7 million people in the north.
The ICC issued warrants of arrest for Kony, Otti and three other LRA commanders, which the rebels wanted dropped as part of a peace deal. The LRA militants remained holed up on the Congo-Sudan border.
Uganda and the LRA signed a tenuous cessation of hostilities agreement in August 2006, but both sides had accused the other of breaking it. Peace talks had continued nonetheless in the southern Sudanese town of Juba.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA