Rebels snub Ugandan president

Juba – Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels on Saturday snubbed Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who called for the speedy resolution of outstanding issues at faltering peace talks aimed at ending two decades of brutal insurgency, officials said.

Ugandan government officials said the LRA delegation, led by the movement’s spokesperson Godfrey Aywo, refused to greet Museveni after he addressed mediators from both sides in the south Sudan capital Juba, the venue of the negotiations. “After the president addressed the plenary …he left his seat and went where the LRA were seated to shake their hands, but one of them refused and stormed out,” Ugandan deputy foreign minister Okello Oryem told AFP.”Others refused to shake his hand too…but the president told them that the reason he went to Juba was to encourage the peace talks,” he added.Museveni said “he came to show his support to the talks.He said they should expedite the process because there are spoilers who are bent on frustrating the process”, according to the minister.The peace talks, begun in July, have stalled since producing a truce in August with both sides accusing the other of repeated violations.Rebel demands include restructuring the Ugandan army, compensation for northern Uganda and restoration of the federal government.The talks are seen by many as the best chance so far to end northern Uganda’s brutal 20-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced two million others, many of whom fled across the border into southern Sudan.The rebels who refused to greet Museveni are furious over claims made by the Ugandan military that the LRA killed at least 40 people in ambushes in southern Sudan earlier this week.The attacks, which occurred a few miles from Juba, spread panic through nearby villages and were seen as undermining the peace talks being mediated by the south Sudan’s vice president Riek Machar.The rebels have demanded an apology from Ugandan newspapers, the state-owned New Vision and the independent paper The Monitor, for portraying them as ruthless killers bent on slaying civilians.Nampa-AFP”After the president addressed the plenary …he left his seat and went where the LRA were seated to shake their hands, but one of them refused and stormed out,” Ugandan deputy foreign minister Okello Oryem told AFP.”Others refused to shake his hand too…but the president told them that the reason he went to Juba was to encourage the peace talks,” he added.Museveni said “he came to show his support to the talks.He said they should expedite the process because there are spoilers who are bent on frustrating the process”, according to the minister.The peace talks, begun in July, have stalled since producing a truce in August with both sides accusing the other of repeated violations.Rebel demands include restructuring the Ugandan army, compensation for northern Uganda and restoration of the federal government.The talks are seen by many as the best chance so far to end northern Uganda’s brutal 20-year war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced two million others, many of whom fled across the border into southern Sudan.The rebels who refused to greet Museveni are furious over claims made by the Ugandan military that the LRA killed at least 40 people in ambushes in southern Sudan earlier this week.The attacks, which occurred a few miles from Juba, spread panic through nearby villages and were seen as undermining the peace talks being mediated by the south Sudan’s vice president Riek Machar.The rebels have demanded an apology from Ugandan newspapers, the state-owned New Vision and the independent paper The Monitor, for portraying them as ruthless killers bent on slaying civilians.Nampa-AFP