Thursday, November 25, 2010

Obama's plan to fight LRA rebels

LRA leader Joseph Kony (left) in a photo taken in southern Sudan in 2006Mr Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity
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US President Barack Obama has outlined a plan to disarm one of Africa's most feared rebel militias, the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army.

It aims to defuse the spiralling bloodshed in central Africa by removing the LRA's leader, Joseph Kony.

LRA fighters will also be encouraged to defect or lay down their arms.

US ally Uganda has for more than 20 years failed to defeat the LRA, notorious for kidnapping children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves.

LRA leaders initially claimed to be fighting to install a theocracy in Uganda based on the Biblical 10 commandments.

But they now roam across Sudan and Central African Republic (CAR), as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

President Obama presented his four-point strategy for disarming the rebels to the US Congress in a letter to senators and representatives.

He was responding to US legislation passed in May promising a comprehensive strategy to put a stop to the LRA's killing, raping and mutilations.

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Mr Obama's letter said that strategy would:

Aim to protect civiliansApprehend or remove from the battlefield Mr Kony and his commandersPromote the defection or disarmament of LRA fightersIncrease humanitarian assistance to people in LRA-affected areas.

He also said it would provide a framework for the co-ordination of US efforts.

"Given the necessity of bringing political, economic, military, and intelligence support to bear in addressing the threat posed by the LRA," Mr Obama said in his letter.

“The elimination of Kony is a military strategic issue”

Witney Schneidman US-African affairs expert

"The development of the strategy relied on the significant involvement of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the US Agency for International Development, and the intelligence community. All will remain engaged throughout implementation," he said.

Mr Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and now lives an itinerant life, mainly crossing between Sudan and the CAR.

Efforts to find peace over the years have not yielded fruit.

In 2008, the LRA leader was about to sign a peace deal with Uganda, negotiated by Southern Sudan, but at the last minute he refused to lay down his arms.

Following that Ugandan forces began operating outside the country's borders in a campaign to destroy the LRA, but their brutal attacks and terror tactics have continued.

Witney Schneidman, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said Mr Obama's plan was a significant development.

"The administration is saying it is prepared to be a partner to the government of Uganda and the government of DR Congo in eliminating the instability," he told the BBC's Network Africa.

"The elimination of Kony is a military strategic issue - highly complex and one that needs to be undertaken with very careful thought and planning.

"You're not going to see US boots on the ground but I think you're going to see the US being a partner in many other ways."

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-11837310

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