Rebels want end to offensive

2009-01-06 19:06

Kampala - Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on Tuesday demanded an end to a joint regional military offensive against its forces in DR Congo and urged UN mediators to organise fresh consultations.

"It is now crystal clear that the military option that the three countries, namely DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), Uganda and Southern Sudan embarked on has not and will not achieve the objective," LRA chief mediator David Nyekorach Matsanga said in an appeal to regional leaders and the United Nations, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

"That is why the LRA peace delegation has been left with no option but to ask you to convene an urgent meeting in your capacity as a UN envoy," Matsanga added, addressing former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano.

Troops from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan have been involved since mid-December in a major joint operation against the LRA in the region, which extends along Congo's borders with Sudan and Uganda.

The unprecedented military drive against the holdout rebel group was launched after LRA leader Joseph Kony - wanted by the International Criminal Court over a raft of war-crime charges - repeatedly failed to show up at signing ceremonies for a peace deal the government inked in April 2008.

The joint raid has targeted LRA camps in remote parts of the DR Congo but has failed to capture or kill Kony and provoked retaliatory raids by the rebels against the local civilian population, local officials and rights groups say.

According to the Caritas aid organisation, at least 400 civilians were slaughtered by LRA gangs during the Christmas period.

The joint operation's spokesperson, Chris Magezi, argued no further talks were needed, urging Kony and his lieutenants to simply sign the existing peace deal.

"On the request... the LRA should sign the peace agreement and assemble in Ri-kwangba, before any military actions can be halted," he said, referring to the jungle town in southern Sudan where previous signing ceremonies were organised.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million displaced in Uganda in two decades of fighting between Kampala and the LRA. The group is notorious for abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves.

- AFP