In the wake of numerous battles against the LRA in southern Sudan, the agreement between the governments of Uganda and Sudan that allowed for Ugandan military operations in Sudan has expired and is unlikely to be renewed, reports the SudanTribune.

Defense Minister Amama Mbabazi reported at a budget meeting that with the inauguration of a new government in Khartoum, marked by the installation of former SPLA rebel leader Salva Kiir as Sudanese Vice-President, Ugandan forces will no longer be operating in the neighboring country, where LRA leader Joseph Kony is thought to be hiding.

Given Sudan's previous provision of arms caches and safe-haven to the LRA, Uganda-CAN is dismayed at this development. Pressure must be mounted on the governments of both countries to expel the LRA from Sudan and force Kony to the negotiating table. It is as yet unclear how the Government of Sudan proposes to deal with the LRA. Before former Vice-President John Garang died, he had vowed to confront the rebel group; we can hope that Kiir shares the same sentiment and will ensure that the flow of support to LRA forces is cut off.

The SudanTribune reports that Ugandan minister Amama Mbabazi has requested a budget of $200 million for defense in the coming year, up from approximately $150 million for 2003. While much of the money is needed for administrative purposes, the primary goal of the Ugandan military, according to Mbabazi, is to track down and defeat the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.

Mbabazi estimated that there remains between 300 and 400 LRA fighters, with bases in Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader districts (though President Museveni recently estimated only 100 remain). Kony is thought to be in southern Sudan, north of Juba town where he is out of reach to Ugandan forces. President Museveni is currently negotiating with the Government of Sudan to allow his forces access to this Sudanese territory not previously open to his forces, and has requested that the Ugandan and Sudanese militaries undertake joint operations against the LRA.

Several dozen LRA have been captured or killed in the last month as Uganda has stepped up its efforts against the group. Attempts to reengage in peace negotiations have faltered, with lines of communication between rebels and mediator Betty Bigombe currently broken.

Although Uganda-CAN recognizes the necessity of utilizing force to confront the LRA, which is responsible for inflicting twenty years of terror in the region, we lament the loss of life, especially that of boys and girls who were abducted from their homes and forced into fighting or sexual slavery. We beg for the Government of Uganda to use a degree of discretion in military engagements, and for the LRA to surrender or negotiate a peaceful resolution to the war immediately.

Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail has publicly called for the departure of the LRA from southern Sudan, reports the SudanTribune.

The Sudanese government has historically supported the LRA in a bid to destabilize southern territories and to use the LRA as a proxy force against the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army. In 2001, Ismail agreed to end that support, and in 2002, allowed the Government of Uganda to conduct cross-border operations in southern Sudan against the LRA.

It is unclear however if some elements in Sudan's military have followed the public statements of the Sudanese government; most analysts believe that the LRA is still being supplied by Sudanese military officials.

Salva Kiir, recently sworn in as Vice President of Sudan following the historic signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan and the death of his compatriot John Garang, is committed to dealing with the LRA. Kiir has publicly stated that LRA commander Joseph Kony has three options: negotiate peacefully with the Ugandan government, leave southern Sudan, or face a large-scale military offensive.

The Ugandan government has struck a deal with the Cable News Network (CNN) to feature Uganda in a more positive light on its half-hour current affairs program "Inside Africa." The deal will help the Ugandan government to present a different picture of Uganda, away from the war, disease, corruption and questionable democratization that cause suffering for many of its citizens.

The government through the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry struck the deal with CNN to sell a different image of Uganda to the international community that has become increasingly critical of Ugandan affairs. Read more about this deal at AllAfrica.com.

Uganda-CAN is closely monitoring this deal and concerned that it will take away the little attention and outrage that exists in the international community for the 19-year old war in northern Uganda that has left 1.6 million people displaced and more than 30,000 children abducted. Uganda-CAN believes a positive picture of Uganda should preclude a Uganda where hundreds of thousands of people are not starving, suffering and dying in camps.

Last Tuesday, Actor Don Cheadle and Crisis Group's John Prendergast spoke on ABC's television news program Nightline about the ongoing 19-year-old conflict in Uganda. "This is a slow burning emergency," stated Prendergast, "two decades worth of slow death and rapid displacement. So, nearly everyone in the entire northern part of Uganda has been displaced from their homes. And they suffer a quiet emergency." Watch the streaming video of the show at the Crisis Group Web site.

MSNBC, following the airing of recent footage from northern Uganda on Dateline, has put together a website with resources, video footage, facts, and photos from the region.

The website includes moving testimonies from the show's host and producer about how their lives were affected by visiting the area. They maintain contact with the night commuter/former rebel Patrick, who was interviewed for the show, as well as the operator of one of the night commter shelters in Gulu.

Their words illuminate the despairing reality that the horrors of this conflict remain unknown and unseen by the rest of the world.

Yesterday, Salva Kiir, the new first vice president of Sudan, issued a strong warning to the Lord's Resistance Army, demanding that they reach a rapid peace deal with Kampala or leave southern Sudan.

He told reporters: "The LRA have to reach a settlement to their problem with the Ugandan government; if not, they have to leave the south. Otherwise, we are going to find other solutions."

Tonight, actor Don Cheadle will report on the conflict in northern Uganda on ABC News "Nightline." On a trip with his family to Uganda, Mr. Cheadle visited the war-torn northern Uganda and met children that have been abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army over the last two decades.

Mr. Cheadle's report as a special correspondent for "Nightline" will be broadcast today at 11:35 PM Eastern time on ABC.

In response to NBC Dateline's reporting Sunday night about the war in northern Uganda, Dr. Ben Latigo, professor of engineering at the University of District of Columbia and active leader of the Acholi Diaspora in the United States, wrote in today's Black Star News, New York's leading investigative Pan-African newspaper. Read Dr. Latigo's critique and commentary of Dateline's coverage.

Aaron Roesch, research associate with the National Security and International Policy team at the Center for American Progress, writes in Mother Jones that the United Nations has neglected hidden conflicts and violations of human rights abuses, like those that have persisted in northern Uganda for two decades. Read Mr. Roesch's article today.

A team of six experts, three from the Sudanese government and three from former rebel group Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army, have headed to New Site, southern Sudan to probe the causes of Sudanese Vice President and former rebel leader John Garang's helicopter crash. After inspection at the site, the team is expected to visit President Museveni in Uganda's capital city of Kampala, reports Uganda's New Vision.

Garang's death by helicopter crash occurred under questionable circumstances, and speculation about the cause led to mass riots and several instances of violence in Sudan. It is widely hoped that the newly formed Government of National Unity in Sudan will make expulsion of the LRA from Sudan a priority, as it was for Garang.

US Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, chair of the House International Relations Committee’s panel on Africa and human rights, is currently visiting Sudan and Ethiopia this week. Congressman Smith will be meeting with leaders and discussing issues of peacebuilding and human rights, reports the Sudan Tribune.

Take five minutes to call Congressman Smith's office today at 202-225-3765! Tell the staffer who answers the phone that you think that Congressman Smith should make discussion of the Lord's Resistance Army, which currently commits gross acts of violence against southern Sudanese people as well as Ugandans, a priority in his discussions with the Sudanese government. Analysts agree that flushing the LRA from its bases in Sudan is the first step toward peace. With nearly two million displaced people and tens of thousands of children who have been robbed of their innocence by two decades of violence, ending the war in northern Uganda must become an international priority.

In yesterday's Daily Monitor, Samuel Olara writes a provocative Op/Ed, titled "Will the World Ever Resolve the Kony War?" Olara criticizes the international community for its lack of attention and action to what Jan Egeland called the "world's most neglected humanitarian crisis."

His article concludes, "Peace in northern Uganda is attainable, if Museveni is willing to declare the region a disaster zone, or if the international community is prepared to act, however, both choose not to.

It is in this light that some observers have quite rightly pointed out that, whether we want it or not, the northern Uganda horrors; which has refused to find its way into our human consciousness will no doubt come back to haunt not only Ugandans but the so called "global village", in years to come." Read this provocative Op/Ed at AllAfrica.com.

Today National Public Radio ran an interview with Los Angeles Times photographer Francine Orr about the plight of abducted children in northern Uganda. Listen to the interview at NPR's website or see Orr's photo essay at the Los Angeles Times Web site.

In Saturday's International Herald Tribune, Olara A. Otunnu, UN under secretary general and special representative for children and armed conflict, wrote an editorial that highlights the United Nation's renewed and increased commitment to work for an end to child soldiers throughout the world.

On July 26, the UN Security Council passed a major resolution seeking to name, condemn and pressure groups that abduct children to use them for cannon fodder, sexual slavery and other purposes in war. The Lord's Resistance Army, operating out of southern Sudan, is one such group.

Otunnu writes, "What is happening to children caught up in conflict and war is a human-made catastrophe, a most unnatural disaster. How can we allow this to continue?"

Blake Lambert of The Washington Times reports that the death of Dr. Garang may intensify the threat of the Lord's Resistance Army. The article talks about Dr. Garang's commitment right before his death to expel the LRA from southern Sudan. In an interview with The New Vision right before his death, he remarked, "Kony won't be hiding there for long. It is not only Kony, but also all the militias who have been operating in the area. We need to provide peace, security and stability."

Lambert reports that the death of Garang has deflated the dreams of many in northern Uganda. Dr. Morris Ogenga-Latigo, MP from Pader District, said, "If Garang's death leads to instability [in southern Sudan], then it will create new conditions for escalation in LRA banditry."

It is clear that stability and peace in northern Uganda and southern Sudan cannot be separated from each other.

Yesterday, the Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Staff published an editorial titled "Give Peace a Chance" calling on the United States to work to continue Garang's work to promote peace in southern Sudan, along with Darfur and northern Uganda.

The editorial reads, "Still, diplomats from the United States and other nations that served as mediators [in the South-North peace agreement] must make sure the former foes do not stray back to the battlefield. Nor should they forget that peace in southern Sudan is a necessary condition for peace in Sudan's bleeding Darfur region, and in northern Uganda."

Uganda-CAN believes the tragic death of Dr. Garang presents a dangerous moment for prospects for peace and stability in the region. Now is the critical moment for the United States and other governmental bodies to commit themselves to a comprehensive peace strategy towards southern Sudan, northern Uganda and Darfur. It's time to give peace in the Great Lakes Region a chance.

The Sudan Tribune reports today that there are many real fears that the death of John Garang will prolong an end to the war in northern Uganda.

"If his death disrupts peace in southern Sudan, this may affect us negatively," said Father Carlos Rodriguez, a Catholic priest in Gulu district. "A peaceful southern Sudan is a guarantee for peace for us in northern Uganda."

Reuters is reporting today that the Lord's Resistance Army is delighted by the death of SPLM leader John Garang, their historic adversary in southern Sudan. John Predergast, special advisor to the International Crisis Group, expressed strong fears that the loss of Garang may allow the Sudanese government to reestablish financial support for the LRA.

Since becoming the Vice President of Sudan, Garang had made expulsion of the LRA a critical aspect of bringing peace and stability to the region. "Garang always had his eye on the LRA ball," Prendergast said. "He knew the LRA could be one of the potential spoilers of a peace deal, because Khartoum viewed these guys as one of their most reliable allies in undermining southern unity."

Uganda-CAN echoes Prendergast's fears and calls upon the international community to step up pressure and diplomacy to ensure Khartoum remains committed to supporting peace in northern Uganda by stopping the LRA.