'Undisciplined' rebel killed

2008-01-23 16:42

Kampala - A Ugandan rebel leader who is wanted on charges of crimes against humanity has acknowledged killing his deputy because he showed "no discipline". according to a radio interview.

Joseph Kony, the shadowy leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, told Mega FM radio late Tuesday that he killed Vincent Otti, ending months of rumours that Otti was dead or under house arrest.

"The action I took against Otti was for the good of LRA," Kony said in a rare interview. Kony and other rebel leaders have spoken to Mega FM in the past because they view the station as independent.

David Ochan, the presenter of the daily talk show during which Kony was interviewed, told The Associated Press Mega FM called the rebel leader on his satellite phone for the interview and was confident Kony was on the line.

Southern Sudan Vice President Riek Machar, who has mediated talks between the two sides, also said he had "received confirmation" of Otti's death, according to a spokesperson for the southern Sudanese government.

Otti was instrumental in persuading leaders of his group to talk with the government, but Kony sought to allay any fears about the fate of the ongoing talks.

"Whatever happened to Otti is an internal matter and it will not jeopardise the current peace talks," Kony said.

Ruth Nankabirwa, Uganda's minister of defence, said she was confident Otti's death would not affect the peace talks.

"Recently LRA delegates travelled the whole country for consultations. All that Ugandans want is peace," Nankabirwa said. "Time is to tell if Kony is serious. For us, we want peace talks to come to an end."

Peace talks started in July 2006 to end one of Africa's longest running conflicts. The LRA is the remnant of a northern rebellion that began in 1986 when Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a southerner, took power.

Otti, Kony and three other top LRA leaders were indicted by the International Criminal Court on atrocities charges, including rape, mutilation and murder. But court officials have no arrest powers, and Museveni's government has promised not to turn over LRA suspects if they sign a peace deal.

At the Hague, Florence Olara, a spokesperson for the International Criminal Court's prosecutor, said if Otti's death is confirmed, "any consideration of withdrawing his name from the case will be a matter for ICC judges to decide."

The court issued arrest warrants in July 2005 for the five LRA leaders. It withdrew one last year when one of the suspects, Raska Lukwiya, was killed in fighting between Ugandan forces and the rebels.

Otti is charged with 11 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts for war crimes.

LRA fighters are notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of civilians and abducting thousands of children, turning the girls into sex slaves and the boys into fighters.

- AP