The elusive leader of a brutal 19-year northern Uganda rebellion held his first formal meeting with a chief peace mediator and a Ugandan government negotiator on Tuesday. Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, warmly shook hands with Riek Machar, who is Vice-President of the autonomous government of Southern Sudan and chief mediator of the peace talks.
The rate of violent deaths in war-ravaged Northern Uganda is three times higher than in Iraq, and the East African country’s 20-year insurgency has cost ,7-billion, according to a report released on Thursday. There are now about 146 deaths a week among Northern Uganda’s estimated population of five million, or 0,17 violent deaths per 10Â 000 people per day.
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/ 20 February 2006
Uganda’s riot police fired tear gas and a water cannon at opposition supporters gathering on Monday at the final pre-election rally for presidential candidate Kizza Besigye. About 2Â 000 supporters had gathered in central Kampala, with riot police standing by. Young men in the crowd taunted the police, who responded with tear gas.
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/ 19 February 2006
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has defended his bid for re-election after 20 years in power, saying he is running in next week’s polls because he needs more time to stabilise Uganda, build democracy and national unity, and defeat terrorism. ”I need … the power of the state to help solve people’s problems,” he said.