Wednesday, November 07, 2007

UGANDA REBEL DEPUTY FEARED DEAD !

Vincent Otti is wanted by The Hague for war crimes. The deputy leader of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army is missing, feared dead, after reports of a falling out with LRA leader Joseph Kony.
A spokesman for Uganda's Peoples' Defence Forces, Lt Chris Magezi, told Radio Uganda the army has information that Vincent Otti was killed weeks ago.
He is one of four LRA leaders indicted by the International Criminal Court.
The LRA were notorious for mutilating victims and kidnapping children to be fighters, porters and sex slaves.
Sources in southern Sudan usually in close contact with Mr Otti confirm they have not had any recent communication.
Security sources quoted in the state-owned New Vision newspaper say Okot Odhiambo has been appointed as LRA deputy.
Ugandan military sources say they have intercepted satellite telephone calls made by Mr Kony, indicating that his men had killed Mr Otti in a power struggle within the LRA.
But an LRA spokesman visiting Uganda, Martin Ojul, denied rumours of a split in the leadership and said Mr Otti has been suffering from cholera.
Mr Ojul is currently leading an LRA delegation in an unprecedented six-week authorised visit to northern Uganda, including visiting refugee camps, to meet some of the victims of the 20-year insurgency.
The delegation will then return to peace talks mediated by the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) government in southern Sudan.

The SPLM have told the French news agency, AFP, that they have been unable to establish contact with Mr Otti, who was the key liaison figure between themselves and the LRA leader.
We are here for reconciliation and we want to come back and live with the people peacefully and in harmony - LRA's Martin Ojul.

The LRA says this is only because Mr Otti's telephone has been changed to evade surveillance by the Ugandan army (UDPF).
However, the UDPF Fourth Brigade says it has obtained information from the LRA base camp in Garamba in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that Mr Otti was executed by firing squad, along with three others, about three weeks ago.
There has been no independent confirmation - but the newspaper New Vision says it has obtained an intelligence brief which says "Otti was killed on or around 8 October 2007 during a high command meeting that Kony convened at his base camp in Garamba".
"Kony also feared that Otti was dealing with individuals who wanted to eliminate him and take over the leadership," the newspaper adds.
The LRA delegation is now in northern Uganda where they are meeting locals, asking for forgiveness and canvassing people's opinions on whether an alternative justice mechanism could be found to the charges brought against four LRA leaders by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Some of them have taken part in traditional Acholi cleansing ceremonies before meeting community leaders.
The archbishop of Gulu, the northern town where the LRA delegation is holding talks, told the BBC forgiveness is key to solving the two-decade war and that he did not see a role for the ICC.
An estimated 1.5m people still remain in displacement camps in the north and thousands were killed during the fighting.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

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