Uganda's LRA rebel boss 'emerges'

September 17, 2006 – (BBC) Uganda's rebel chief is said to have arrived at a camp in Sudan, meeting a condition in a truce which may lead to an end to conflict in northern Uganda. Joseph Kony and members of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) were given three weeks to reach the meeting place. One of the world's most wanted men, Mr Kony has been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

His deputy arrived at the camp a week ago following an offer of amnesty if the rebels disarmed and demobilised. "Joseph Kony has arrived at one of the assembly points," Martin Ojul, head of the LRA's negotiating team told Reuters news agency. Mr Kony, wanted by the International Criminal Court based in the Hague, arrived at the Ri Kwangba camp just north of the border with Congo, rebel officials said. The arrival of his deputy, Vincent Otti, was announced on 11 September.

Uganda's Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem told the BBC that if confirmed, Joseph Kony's arrival in the camp would be very significant. "We hope it's true and we hope we can confirm it by tomorrow and I think this will then take us to the next stage - progressing with the negotiations," he said.

More than 3,000 fighters and some 400 women and children are also at the camp. Correspondents say the LRA leaders had been reluctant to show themselves for fear of being arrested under the warrants issued by the world court. But Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has offered them amnesty if a solid peace deal is achieved, to the annoyance of the ICC.

Jan Egeland, the United Nations emergency relief co-ordinator, has urged the UN Security Council to back the peace process rather than seeking to secure the arrests of the rebel leaders at all costs. "This is the best chance we have ever had for peace in northern Uganda," he said. An estimated 20,000 children have been kidnapped during the insurgency, with girls forced to become domestic and sexual slaves and boys turned into child soldiers, according to the UN.

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5354348.stm