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Uganda 'will fight LRA rebels'
28/02/2007 10:11 - (SA)
Kampala - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday warned he would launch a fresh fight against any rebel Lord's Resistance Army fighters on his soil after a truce expires on Wednesday.
The LRA rebels have vowed not to renew the truce - the only significant achievement of peace talks that began last July aiming to end two decades of war.
Some of the rebels and their leaders are currently believed to be hiding in parts of southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), while others are said to be heading to the Central African Republic.
Museveni told reporters in Kampala that his country's defence forces could not fight the rebels when they were outside Ugandan soil, but added: "If they try to enter Uganda, we shall deal with them."
He was speaking after holding talks with visiting US General William Ward, the deputy commander of the European Command, a structure covering US military forces in Europe and Africa.
LRA lost trust in mediators
The LRA has insisted it will only participate in peace talks at a new venue under a different mediation, since it has lost trust in the south Sudanese mediators who brokered the now-stalled talks, and no longer wants to hold them in southern Sudan's regional capital Juba.
It has accused the chief mediator, the region's vice-president Riek Machar, of bias - a charge he has repeatedly denied.
In addition, the movement's deputy commander Vincent Otti has accused the Ugandan army of violating the truce by attacking his forces in southern Sudan in recent weeks, and vowed to fight back.
But Museveni downplayed the threat, saying the movement had been weakened by a series of army attacks.
"We defeated them and that is why they ran to (DR) Congo. There were no hostilities when they signed the cessation of hostilities agreement," Museveni said.
"There will be peace in Uganda with or without the peace talks because the peace talks were only good for the terrorists who wanted to get a soft landing," he added.
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