Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on Wednesday suspended participation in peace talks with the government to end a brutal two-decade conflict, claiming the army had killed three rebel fighters.
Rebel spokesperson Obonyo Olweny said they withdrew from the peace process after the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) attacked a rebel unit headed to one of two neutral camps in southern Sudan in line with the truce.
”The LRA high command has suspended participation in the peace talks with the government of Uganda until the UPDF are withdrawn from all positions east of River Nile back into Uganda,” spokesperson Obonyo Olweny told the media.
”That is only the only way the peace process will continue,” he said, adding that LRA deputy chief Vincent Otti had already relayed the message to mediators.
Olweny explained that the Ugandan army attacked a rebel unit that was headed to assemble in one of the two camps, Owiny-Ki-Bul, near southern Sudan’s border with Uganda.
He said the attack took place in areas from which the Ugandan army last week said it had withdrawn to pave the way for rebels to assemble.
”Today at 8.30am [local time], the UPDF attacked a unit of the LRA at a point between Ngangala and Magwi, both places east of River Nile in southern Sudan,” he said.
”In that attack, they killed three LRA soldiers and continued to pursue our forces until late afternoon,” he added.
The attack is a violation of a truce that was renewed on November 1 to replace an August 26 pact, which was seen as a key step in the floundering peace process mediated by the semi-autonomous government of south Sudan.
”These attacks have demonstrated that the government and the UPDF are not interested in a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, the government of Uganda should not use the time of peace talks to prosecute war and achieve military victory,” Olweny said.
”If they want war, let them come out clearly and say they do not want peace and fighting resumes,” he added.
The rebel suspension is a major blow to the peace process, which started in July in south Sudan capital Juba, and is seen by many as the best chance to end the conflict that is regularly described as one of the world’s worst, and most-forgotten, humanitarian crises.
The conflict has raged since 1988. — AFP
