Monday, June 9, 2008

Kony: Is the end near?

The latest news from Africa points toward a final end for mass-murderer Joseph Kony and his LRA terrorists:
The Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) is set to attack Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army rebels, Southern Sudan trade minister Anthony Makana has said.
He made the remarks on Saturday after the LRA attacked an SPLA detachment in Nabanga, killing 23 people, including 14 SPLA officers and a local chief in the nearby Yamba town. The attackers reportedly headed towards the Ugandan border after the incident.
Negotiations for the LRA's surrender broke down in March, because International Criminal Court officials refused to grant amnesty to Kony and other top LRA leaders accused of human rights violations. After the latest attack, South Sudan -- which had been brokering the negotiations -- said no more talk:
"It would be unreasonable for the Government of South Sudan to continue [with the mediation]," said Mr Gabriel Changson Cheng, the GoSS information minister.
Mr Cheng, who spoke to Radio France International (RFI), said the decision to withdraw his government's mediation was brought about by several other factors including the attack itself. "[The LRA] are the ones abrogating the peace process," he said, adding that the other party to the talks, the Uganda government, was equally disinterested.
Kony and his thugs have been hiding in a remote area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now they are reportedly roving about the borderlands again:
Suspected rebels of the Lords Resistance Army are moving towards the Ugandan border, after raids at the Congo-Sudan border towns on Wednesday and Thursday, an official has said.
The attacks in Nabanga and Yamba, about 20 kilometers apart left at least 21 people killed, including six children, southern Sudan Army Spokesman Major General Peter Parnyang said Saturday.
The rebels also killed a local chief in Yamba before disappearing. "They are moving along the border; they are moving towards Kajo-Keji," Maj.Gen Parnyang told this Correspondent Saturday.
Kajo-Keji, at the Sudan-Uganda border, lies about 400 kilometers south east of Nabanga, the area where the rebels were expected to converge during the stalled Uganda-rebel peace talks.
At last, Uganda's leaders appear to have had enough of negotiations:
Addressing the Ugandan parliament on 5 June, President Yoweri Museveni said his army was ready to flush the LRA out of its bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) if the Congolese government and the UN gave his country the go-ahead.
"I can assure all of you Ugandans that [LRA leader Joseph] Kony cannot disturb the peace in northern Uganda given the nature of professionalism of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF). We now have sophisticated equipment and are ready to respond," the president said.
"Since Kony is in Congo, it is now the responsibility of [DRC President Joseph] Kabila and the UN to call on us," he told the legislators. "In case Congo asks for our assistance, we are ready and prepared to go and destroy him."
Here's hoping they get the green light.

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