The army has accused LRA rebels of ambushing its liaison officer in Juba, Major Richard Otto, in what they call a violation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. The UPDF spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulayigye, said in a statement that the incident, which occurred on Thursday, took place 20km from Juba, on the Juba-Nisitu road, and 60km West of Owiny-ki-Bul, one of the assembly areas. The LRA peace delegation spokesman, Obonyo Olweny, described the UPDF claims as "absolute trash." Read more at The New Vision.

U.S. President George W. Bush spoke yesterday by telephone with Ugandan President Museveni about the fighting in Somalia between the Ethiopian army and Union of Islamic Courts. Washington is urging Kampala to play a key role in the East African peacekeeping mission created by the UN to protect the beleaguered Somali government. While the Somalia conflict is certainly a pressing issue for the region, it does not appear that the two presidents discussed an equally relevant humanitarian nightmare: the 21-year war in northern Uganda. As we outlined in our latest policy brief, the U.S. Government has been "missing in action" since the historic Juba peace talks began six months ago. U.S. support for the process would be critical to strengthen its prospects for success. Continued inaction suggests that peace in northern Uganda is a low priority for the Bush Administration; a contradiction from a statement earlier this year that President Bush wanted the war over by the end of 2006.

LRA leader Joseph Kony delivered a holiday message over the Mega FM radio Tuesday night, wishing a prosperous New Year to Ugandans and urging them not to lose hope in peace talks. "Let us all pray for peace as we enter 2007 so that we stop greeting each other through the radio but start talking face to face," Kony said. Read more at the International Herald Tribune.

John Edwards, 2004 vice-presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, will announce this week his bid for the presidency in 2008. In a video on his web site, Edwards mentions U.S. action to end the "atrocities in northern Uganda" as a tenet of his campaign. Uganda-CAN does not yet endorse political candidates, but we certainly endorse political leadership that is willing to take responsibility to address one of the world's worst humanitarian nightmares.

Continued uncertainty over security in the region is causing IDPs to delay their return to their original villages. Earlier this year, the government set a deadline of 31 December for all IDPs to vacate the camps that have been set up during the 20-year period of war. Yet, the IDPs remain unmoved. "People here are still not moving, not leaving the camps. They are thinking about it, planning to do it eventually," a camp leader at Acholibur, Pader District, said. "Everyone is tired of staying in the camps, but people aren't sure of these peace talks. This is not the first time the rebels talk about peace and nothing changes." In addition, the enormity and complexity of the task to send IDPs home means that the process can only move at a snail's pace. For example, IDPs remain concerned about protection of their rights to land. 2007 could bring better fortunes for IDPs, but it remains too early to tell. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

Refugees International has produced a new press release, urging all parties to support the historic Juba peace negotiations. They write, "Peace talks currently underway in Juba, South Sudan, are the best chance for peace that the region has seen during the two-decade conflict, but the negotiations have not yet reached a point of no return. It is imperative that the parties to the conflict and the international community take immediate measures to address shortcomings in the process in order to ensure that the talks succeed." They urge the parties in Juba to respect the Cessation of Hostilities agreement, donors to fully support the peace process and UNMIS to provide logistical support. Read the full release here.

The LRA delegation in Juba resisted pressure and has refused yet to sign a pact on comprehensive solutions to the war. The would-be agreement had been touted as a Christmas gift to the war-ravaged areas. Pleas from the Acholi paramount chief Rwot Onen Acana and the chief mediator Dr. Riek Machar came to no avail as the parties parted for the Christmas break without an agreement. Machar said the LRA declined to sign because they had reservations on six issues: the preamble of the pact, guiding principles, establishment of a special trust fund for the north, a mechanism for federalism for the north and the implementation mechanism for PRDT (asking for an autonomous body). Still, the chairman of the LRA team, Martin Ojur, said they would consider signing the pact when the talks resume after Christmas. Read more at The New Vision.

Frustrated by Uganda's failure to arrest LRA leader Joseph Kony, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has now turned to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operatons (DPKO). The ICC chief prosecutor hopes to secure an arrangement to use UN peacekeeping forces in Sudan and the DR Congo to arrest the indicted LRA leaders. This comes two months after the ICC expressed disappointment that Uganda had failed to meet its side of the bargain to have the rebel leader arrested. Explaining Uganda's position, the prosecutor said: "The Government of Uganda, clarified in its October 4, 2006 letter to the Registry that, 'In the interests of peace and security for the civilian population, who are at risk of being victimized by the LRA, the Government of Uganda is currently participating in peace talks, facilitated by the Government of South Sudan." Read more at The Monitor.

The Cessation of Hostilities monitoring team yesterday rejected allegations by the LRA that UPDF is closing in on the rebels' hideout in Garamba in the DR Congo. "The claim that the UPDF is 10 miles from Garamba is not true," the head of the team, Maj. Gen. Wilson Deng said. This follows earlier allegations that the UPDF planned to attack the rebels on Christmas Day. The monitoring team also established that the recent ambushes on the Nimule-Juba road and the Juba-Torit road, which had been attributed to the LRA, were the work of a militia allied to the Khartoum government. They further disclosed that although the LRA had not yet assembled within the agreed perimeters of Owiny Ki-Bul, they were in the vicinity. Read more at The New Vision.

Don't forget to check out Uganda-CAN's latest policy brief: "The Bush Administration and the Juba Peace Process: Missing in Action." We write, "Members of the U.S. Congress, compelled by growing concern amongst the American public, have urged the Bush Administration to act more decisively in support of the talks, but have received no response." The policy brief then outlines recent statements on the Juba process by the Department of State, along with recommendations for what the U.S. Government could be doing to consolidate momentum for sustainable peace.

The Sudanese army has refuted reports on the arrest of 15 soldiers by the SPLA in October for a string of attacks that left at least 38 civilians dead in Juba. The 15 soldiers were accused of trying to derail the ongoing peace talks between the Government of Uganda and LRA, mediated by the Government of South Sudan. A Sudanese army official pointed out that following that attack on the area by men first believed to be LRA rebels, fifteen members of the Armed Forces went to check out what had happened to their families there, but upon arriving there they found that the SPLA troops were deployed and were subsequently arrested. However on the intervention of Lieutenant General Salva Kiir they were released and were taken back to their respective units in the Joint Forces in Juba. Read more at The Sudan Tribune.

President Museveni has agreed to send a team of ministers to the LRA base at Ri-Kwangba, as part of a series of confidence-building measures. This follows a request by LRA leader Joseph Kony, which was delivered to the President through Gulu RDC Col. Walter Ochora. Addressing the press yesterday, Ochora said Kony’s offer to host the ministers was to show his commitment to peace and to reciprocate the good gesture by the government to enable his mother to visit him. He also disclosed that Kony is ready to send some senior commanders to take part in the peace talks in Juba. Ochora also revealed that the President has offered to send 10 bulls to the LRA for Christmas, five to Ri-Kwangba and five to Owiny-Kibul, the two locations for the LRA fighters to assemble. Read more at The New Vision.

Government officials back from visiting LRA leader Joseph Kony in his hideout said today they had succeeded in opening up a direct phone line between Kony and President Yoweri Museveni -- a development they hoped would speed up peace talks under way in south Sudan. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

LRA leader Joseph Kony has, in a surprise move, said he wants to face trial under the Ugandan justice system. Kony and three of his commanders are indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He said at the weekend that he has no trust in the international justice system. "Kony made it clear that the ICC is biased, it has heard only one side of the story and now he says he is willing to stand trial in Uganda. He mentioned Luzira and Lugore prisons which mean he is ready to face anything," said Alphonse Owiny Dollo. Read more at The Monitor.

Legislators from the Acholi sub-region say they are ready to discuss Acholi land matters with President Museveni, but in Gulu and not Rwakitura as proposed by the President. The Chairman of the Acholi Parliamentary Group Livingstone Okello-Okello said on Monday that they are eager to discuss serious issues concerning Acholi land with the President. "Why call us in Rwakitura? Does he want to brainwash us?" Okello-Okello asked. "We are ready and eager to raise many important concerns on Acholi land to Mr Museveni but we should meet him in Gulu or any other district in Acholi land not Rwakitura. The land he wants to discuss is in Acholi and not Rwakitura." Read more at The Monitor.

President Museveni in a message to LRA leader Joseph Kony has assured the rebels of his commitment to the Juba peace process, promising he would not go against his word. He also repeated the possibility of a Ugandan justice system, offering the LRA top leadership an escape route from the ICC in The Hague. The message was delivered to his base in Garamba, DR Congo, by a team headed by Gulu RDC Col. Walter Ochora, and former minister of state Owiny Dollo. Read more at The New Vision.

Uganda-CAN has released a new policy brief, titled "The Bush Administration and the Juba Peace Process: Missing in Action." We write, "Negotiations currently taking place in Juba, Sudan to end the twenty year war between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army and Government of Uganda offer the best chance ever to settle the conflict peacefully. Yet the United States Government, a strong partner of the Government of Uganda with far-reaching regional influence, has yet to definitively endorse the negotiations or to offer support to strengthen the prospects for the talks’ success." The brief outlines the four public statements made by U.S. State Department officials in six months, along with key recommendations for how the U.S. Government could best strengthen the peace process. Click here to read and download the full brief.

If ensuring the war ends is to truly be a priority for the Bush Administration, we urge the following steps be taken to strengthen the Juba peace process:
• A public statement should be made clearly endorsing the talks. Public support for the process can build the confidence of the parties to the talks, and would act as a form of accountability by sending the message that the actions of the parties will affect future U.S. policies.
• Constructive dialogue with the Sudanese government in Khartoum should take place to prevent the Khartoum regime from taking measures to derail the process.
• Pressure should be placed on the Government of Uganda to abide by the terms of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, specifically to ensure that Ugandan soldiers are pulled away from ceasefire zones to expedite the process of LRA gathering in the designated zones.
• Logistical and technical support should be provided to bolster the mediation of the Government of South Sudan and the effectiveness of the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team.
• Financial support should be offered to the UN’s Juba Initiative Fund as funding gaps emerge and especially if there is an extension to talks.
• A massive increase in humanitarian and development assistance for war-affected areas should be announced, especially if the Juba talks succeed. Targeted humanitarian assistance can assist the early stages of resettlement for displaced people, community reconciliation, the protection of land rights, and other needs.
• Policymakers should develop a clear plan of action regarding how to deal with International Criminal Court indictments for rebel leaders, which could include advocating that the UN Security Council suspend the arrest warrants for one year to give negotiations space to proceed and explore alternative justice mechanisms.

The Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team finalized its latest report last week, with the following findings:

1.) The LRA has not assembled in Owiny-ki-Bul and therefore is in breach of the CoH agreementt.
2.) The LRA has some presence in Ri-Kwangba but has not properly assembled there. However, because of inadequate water supply in Ri-Kwangba, the LRA can not be considered to be in breach of the CoH-agreement on this account.
3.) The UPDF has withdrawn from Palutaka and Tabika, as promised.
4.) Clashes between LRA and UPDF took place at 29 November (between Mogiri, Nisitu and Ngangala) and 30 November in the area of Liria. These are both areas where both forces are not supposed to be under the CoH truce.
5.) On 30 November, a UPDF helicopter dropped bombs near Opari (very close to Owiny-ki-Bul).

Yet even though CoH implementation is weak, there are good prospects that recent confidence-building measures will give new momentum to the agreement. The delegations in Juba agreed this week to extend the CoH until the end of February 2007. Still, finding #5 of a UPDF helicopter attack near a LRA assembly point remains especially troubling. Uganda-CAN continues to urge that both parties adhere to their obligations under the truce and put peace in northern Uganda first and foremost.

Following concerns that the peace negotiations between the Government and the LRA in Juba were taking longer than expected, the two sides have adopted a strategy to fast track the process including holding joint sessions without the mediator. The LRA and the Government delegations have since Saturday been meeting at Civicon Oasis Hotel in Juba, raising hopes that the differences and suspicion that have hindered the smooth negotiations have been overcome. Sources said yesterday's meeting centred on item number two on the mediator's agenda, which is accountability. Read more at The Monitor.

A delegation of LRA rebels will soon visit the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, to plead for the lifting of the indictments the court has placed on the top rebel commanders. Vice President Dr. Riek Machar told this to a delegation of local Acholi leaders, the clergy, the donor community and the peace talks observers, at Juba Raha Hotel in Juba on Thursday night. He did not give the date of the trip to The Hague but said it may be soon. "We feel we should go to ICC and listen to them," the LRA peace delegation chairman, Mr Martin Ojul, said on Friday. Read more at The Monitor.

The Ugandan Amnesty Commission has set aside sh350m for 1,000 LRA rebels who may denounce rebellion should the Juba peace talks succeed. Justice Peter Onega, the commission chairman, on Friday said each of the rebels would be entitled to a sh350,000 package. He said the World Bank, under the Multi-Country Demobilisation and Re-integration Project, was funding the exercise. He said since the start of the peace talks in the South Sudan capital, the commission has been on standby to receive the rebels. "We are ready to move to any assembly point chosen by the rebels who may opt to surrender even if it is in South Sudan," Onega said. Read more at The New Vision.

President Museveni has assured Ugandans that soon peace will prevail all over the country because all the warring groups have been chased out of Uganda and they cannot return. The task at hand, he said on Saturday, is to handle the remnants of insecurity in Karamoja. John Odyek reports that Museveni said this on Saturday during a thanksgiving service under the theme "Counting our Blessings" held at State House in Nakasero. Read more at The New Vision.

The Government and the LRA delegations in Juba have extended a ceasefire until the end of February 2007. South Sudan vice-president Riek Machar witnessed the signing ceremony on Saturday. The leader of the government negotiating team Ruhakana Rugunda seized the moment to invite the LRA negotiating team to Kampala for the season's holidays. Meanwhile, Nora Anek, mother of LRA leader Joseph Kony returned to Uganda on Saturday from Garamba, with a message to her son and President Yoweri Museveni to stop the fighting in northern Uganda. "Both of them (Museveni and Kony) are my sons. They should stop the war," Anek said. Read more at The Monitor.

She has been on the most popular television talk shows in the US, including Winfrey Oprah and The Today Show. She was interviewed by CBS News and National Public Radio. She addressed the US Senate and met celebrities like boxer Kassim Ouma and actors Cuba Gooding and George Clooney. Evaline Apoko, the 15-year-old formerly abducted girl from Gulu has become a star in America, rallying U.S. citizens to care about northern Uganda.

Abducted from her home in Atiak by the LRA in May 2003, at the age of 13, Evaline was taken on long journeys through the war-torn north, forced to carry heavy loads, while being pursued by the UPDF. During an attack by a helicopter gunship, she was hit by bomb shrapnel in the face. The LRA then cut away part of her mouth and her tongue. Apoko arrived in a deplorable state at Rachele Rehabilitation Centre in Lira in January 2004, after she managed to escape from the rebels. In September 2005, some US citizens, led by the Name Campaign's Cori Stern, came to her rescue after seeing a picture of the girl. During her 14-month stay in the US, Evaline has already underwent four surgeries, in which flesh was extracted from her wrist to reconstruct her cheek muscles and another piece of flesh was taken from her thigh to form the lips. She has returned to Uganda and is happy to be back, but continues to work to help end the war that has plagued her people for 21 years now. Read more at The New Vision.

The peace talks in Juba officially resumed on Thursday night with a dinner hosted by the mediator and Vice-President of South Sudan Riek Machar. Machar appealed to both parties to sign a pact on solutions to the causes of the war as a Christmas gift to the affected people in northern Uganda. The Government team invited the leader of the LRA delegation, Martin Ojul, to their Christmas celebration, which the latter eagerly accepted. Machar urged both parties to respect the cessation of hostilities agreement and the addendum signed so far. Machar declared the fourth round of talks open at around 9:00pm. Martin Ojul said his team was equally committed to a faster negotiation process and the need for a timetable. Read more at The New Vision.

Uganda's LRA rebels appealed today to African leaders attending a summit in Kenya to press President Museveni to withdraw his troops from south Sudan to pave way for progress in the Juba peace talks. The LRA spokesman, Obonyo Olweny, said insurgents feared gathering at assembly points in line with a truce because of the presence of government forces in the region. "The presidents should also support the peace process in general because this is the most genuine attempt to restore peace in northern Uganda," Olweny said. Read more at The New Vision.

Four Ugandan traders were on Tuesday hacked to death by suspected LRA rebels in a string of road ambushes along Torit-Juba road in South Sudan, the army reported yesterday. UPDF spokesman Felix Kulayigye accused the rebels of using 'Kafunis' (small hoes) to smash or hack the heads of their victims. The deceased have not yet been identified. He accused the rebels of ambushing three lorries, looting merchandise and later burning them. The leader of the government delegation in the Juba peace talks Ruhakana Rugunda said the incident would not affect the resumption of peace talks scheduled for today. Read more at The Monitor.

Mozambique ex-president Joaquim Chissano, the new U.N. envoy for Uganda's conflict with LRA rebels, said on Tuesday that constantly changing circumstances could complicate efforts to end the 21-year brutal war. U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan last week named Chissano as his special envoy to LRA-affected areas, hoping to forge a political settlement for the conflict. "I have been asked to help in finding the solution there ... but what makes it difficult to predict the outcome is that things keep changing every day in Uganda," Chissano said. "I will be travelling to the U.N this Saturday to be briefed about the situation there... I will also go there (Uganda) and see what kind of input is required," Chissano said. He also said he would work and communicate with the ICC in The Hague. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

Refugees International, after a recent visit to northern Uganda, have sent out a press release and recommendations concerning the displacement situation in the war-torn area. They write, "Despite improvements in security and an unprecedented opportunity to resolve the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda peacefully, the humanitarian situation for over 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) remains difficult...While some people are leaving the camps, it is not a full-fledged return process since very few displaced people are returning to their original villages. Most Acholis remain in desperately overcrowded camps with substandard services. Acute problems in the camps include pervasive gender-based violence, fires that damage homes, and poor access to proper water and sanitation services, which resulted in a recent cholera outbreak...Distrust of the government's intentions is still widespread."

In response, RI makes the following recommendations:

1.) Donors continue to fund humanitarian activities in the camps. Programming should reflect the particular pattern of movement in each district;
2.) UNHCR ensure that its protection strategy keeps pressure on district and central government to respect the rights of all displaced people, including those still in the camps. The population movement committees must be continued and fully supported as UNHCR takes over from UNICEF as the head of the protection cluster;
3.) The new Humanitarian Coordinator ensure that protection is a top priority and work with the protection working groups to address problems;
4.) The Government of Uganda provide incentives and additional assistance to its employees in northern Uganda to fill key positions such as teachers, health workers, and legal aides in the north;
5.) The Government of Uganda increase its contribution to its $200 million Peace, Development and Reconstruction Plan from the current $10 million it has pledged; and
6.) UNDP rapidly accelerate its programs, particularly focusing in livelihood development, in Acholiland.

President Museveni today urged his DR Congo counterpart Joseph Kabila to deal with the myriad of criminal forces on Congolese territory, including the LRA. Elections in the DR Congo solved only 50% of the problems facing the Great Lakes Region, Museveni said. The other 50% are the multitude of negative terrorist groups on the DRC territory, including the LRA, the President added. Museveni today urged the Great Lakes Region member states to review the draft pact, allowing them to intervene if a neighbour voluntarily harbours criminals threatening their security. Read more at The New Vision.

Land ownership is the most controversial issue in the north and northeastern Uganda as the internally displaced people move back to their homes, according to a new report by Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI). The report notes that land conflicts had led to family and clan clashes resulting in death. Livingstone Sewanyana, the FHRI executive director, launched the report on Wednesday and suggested that a land policy for northern Uganda be made and the population sensitised. He also called for the trengthening of land tribunals to deal with land conflicts. Read more at The New Vision.

Gladys Oromo, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Uganda, reports that the LRA's second-in-command Vincent Otti has said the UPDF in collaboration with the southern Sudan army (SPLA), the United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo and Congolese militias are planning to arrest the top LRA commanders indicted by the International Criminal Court. He said the LRA are committed to the peace talks in Juba and are also ready to protect them if they come to attack them. However, the government and UPDF dismissed Otti’s claims. The State Minister for Defence, Ruth Nankabirwa said they are serious with the peace talks in Juba and wondered how again they can arrest them. Otti has asked for more lawyers to educate him and the LRA High Command about their ICC indictments.

Heads of States from the Great Lakes Region are gathering in Nairobi this week to sign a regional Pact on Security, Stability and Development. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the International Refugee Rights Initiative have heralded the process as holding out great hope for the approximately 9.5 million IDPs and nearly 2 million refugees in the region. Collectively, the Great Lakes host’s more than half of Africa’s internally displaced population. Read more at the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The peace talks between the Ugandan government and LRA in Juba are set to resume tomorrow. The parties are scheduled to review the cessation of hostilities pact and conclude discussions on finding comprehensive solutions to the conflict. They will then move on to the next topics on the agenda: accountability and reconciliation, the ceasefire and the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of the LRA. The talks have been boosted in the past week by direct talks between President Museveni and LRA commander Vincent Otti and by the reunion of Joseph Kony and his mother, who told him to sign a peace deal within the next two weeks. However, the talks continue to be plagued by accusations of ceasefire violations. The LRA maintain that it was attacked in late November by UPDF forces, and today a UPDF spokesman accused LRA rebels attacking a caravan on the Juba-Torit road in South Sudan and kidnapping an unknown number of passengers. Read more at The New Vision.

A spokeswomen for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday that 20,000 Sudanese refugees would begin returning home this week to southern Sudan from Ethiopia and the Central African Republic. The return will be an expansion of the UNHCR’s post-war voluntary repatriation programme, which has so far assisted 91,000 Sudanese refugees in returning home, mostly from Kenya and Uganda. An estimated 350,000 Sudanese refugees still remain abroad. The January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between southern SPLA rebels and the Khartoum-based Sudanese government ended a bloody 21-year civil war in the south which helped perpetuate the conflict between the LRA and the Ugandan government. However, recent clashes between SPLA forces and the Khartoum-based military have threatened to undermine not only the CPA, but also peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government in Juba, South Sudan. Read more at The Sudan Tribune.

The senior district education officer in Gulu said yesterday that the dropout rate in the district’s primary schools is 35% higher than the national average. Vincent Ocheng also attributed the high dropout rate to the fact that 69% of primary schools in Gulu have been shifted to IDP camps, as well as 53% of secondary schools. Read more at The Monitor.

The mother of LRA leader Joseph Kony has reportedly set a two-weeks deadline for a peace agreement to be signed. "The matter should be concluded in two weeks and people in Juba should go home," 83-year-old Nora Anek reportedly told her son in Garamba in DR Congo. "President Museveni and Kony should face each other directly and iron out their problems once and for all. They are both my sons," she said. However, the ICC arrest warrants keep hanging like a sword over the whole process. "Kony complained that the ICC had indicted them without listening to their side of the story," Gulu RDC Walter Ochora said. Read more at The New Vision.

Members of the Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) yesterday refused to accept an invitation by President Museveni to his upcountry home in Rwakitura until some confusion surrounding the request is sorted out. The President reportedly wanted to discuss land-related issues with the MPs. Livingstone Okello-Okello, the chairperson of the APG said, "Some letters addressed to some members of the APG, including mine, are inviting members of Parliament from Lango Region to a meeting on Wednesday (December 27), while other letters addressed to some members of Lango Parliamentary Group (LPG) are inviting members of the APG to a meeting on Monday (December 21)." The APG further raised concerns that the President has invited NRM district executives and Acholi cultural leaders. The Acholi MPs also demand that the invitation should have an agenda. Read more at The Monitor.

LRA leader Joseph Kony has said he will hold direct peace talks with President Museveni in a bid to end the northern conflict. He said the need to hold direct talks with Museveni follows demands and advice from his mother, Norah Anek Oting, who is currently with him at his hideout in Ri-Kwangba. The development comes barely a day after President Museveni had a 30-minute telephone conversation with LRA's second in command, Vincent Otti on Sunday. The LRA leader also said he wants to cross to Owinyi-ki-Bul assembly area in South Sudan to be with his troops but fears the UPDF presence. He demanded that the government withdraws its troops so that he joins his forces. Read more at The Monitor.

"It seems peace talks have only really started now, with the arrival of my mother," LRA leader Joseph Kony said while meeting his mother for a third successive day. "My mother is second to the Almighty God to me. I cannot but heed her advice to stop fighting and come back home. But we want the Government to meet some of the demands we are putting across." Kony further asked the Government to facilitate his mother’s return to her home village in Gulu, Odek, now that people in the north are heading home. Read more at The New Vision.

Uganda's army and the LRA rebels have agreed to pull their forces apart, after talks between President Museveni and the deputy LRA leader Vincent Otti. The reported deal seems to be intended to restore confidence in fragile peace talks held in southern Sudan. Read more at the BBC News.

President Museveni yesterday held a telephone conversation with LRA's second-in-command Vincent Otti for the first time. Ochora said the President spoke with Otti via satellite phone for over 30 minutes, discussing their commitment to the Juba peace talks, withdrawal of UPDF forces from the assembling areas and allowing Kony to have more days with his mother, all of which the President reportedly honoured. On Saturday, Kony, for the first time since he launched an armed rebellion, met his mother and his eldest son a few kilometers from Ri-Kwangba. "I and my commanders are overwhelmed by the government's generosity in facilitating this meeting between me and my mother," Kony reportedly said. Read more at The Monitor.

Micro-Finance Minister Salim Saleh, the President's half-brother, has scoffed at Acholi MPs who are accusing him of land grabbing in their sub-region. Gen. Saleh said that as a Ugandan, he has a right to lawfully acquire land in any part of the country. Livingstone Okello-Okello, the chairperson Acholi Parliamentary Group, said last week that Harriet Abel, one the alleged land grabbers is Gen. Saleh's "social friend." The MPs allege that Abel is opening up large farms on other people's land using UPDF soldiers to scare the original owners off the land. The MPs in particular accused Gen. Saleh of conspiring with individuals to grab their land when owners are still in camps. Read more at The Monitor.

President Museveni has written to the Acholi Parliamentary Group inviting them for a meeting on December 21 at his country home in Rwakitura. Livingstone Okello-Okello, the chairperson of the Acholi MPs, said, "We are meeting on Monday afternoon as the Acholi Parliamentary Group to discuss the President's invitation. The invitation has also been extended to the NRM district executives from the region." The proposed meeting comes against a backdrop of suspicion from Acholi MPs that the government has a hidden agenda of disenfranchising their electorate; that the government plans to 'grab' land in the sub-region by selling it to local and foreign investors, which would leave many Acholi landless. Read more at The Monitor.

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada will contribute $1.5 million to support the northern Uganda peace process between the Government of Uganda and the LRA being held in Juba. With this contribution, Canada will become the largest bilateral supporter of these critical peace talks. The United States Government is now the only major donor yet to contribute, however sources tell Uganda-CAN the USG is taking the Juba talks much more seriously and looking for ways to help. "It is very important for Canada that every effort be made to bring an end to a 20-year-long conflict that has led to the abduction of some 30,000 children, the widespread use of child soldiers, and the displacement of close to 2 million people," said Minister MacKay. Read more at Canada's Foreign Affairs web site.

The Ugandan government yesterday chartered a plane and flew the mother of LRA leader Joseph Kony to meet her son at his hideout in Ri-Kwangba on the Sudan-Congo border. Norah Anek Oting, 83, flew together with Gulu RDC Col. Walter Ochora, the leader of the delegation, Gulu LCV Chairman Norbert Mao and John Lacambel Oryema, a presenter at Mega FM. This is going to be the first time Kony is meeting his mother face to face since he launched his rebellion against the government of President Museveni 20 years ago. The trip is in line with government's mission of confidence building measures between LRA rebels, government and civilians as part of the peace process. Read more at The Monitor.

The UN's IRIN News reports that the relative peace in northern Uganda, brought by the Juba process, has spurred thousands of internally displaced people (IDP) to start moving from camps back to their villages. However, the returnees face enormous challenges. For example, cattle were once a cherished symbol of wealth for the region's Acholi people, but they were virtually wiped out during two decades of war – effectively destroying the source of money for education and family welfare, and a source of protein for thousands of families. In addition, as Uganda-CAN has reported on before, the return of IDPs may spur land conflicts if the government is not sensitive and committed to protecting people's land rights. Still, Ugandan officials say despite the slow pace of the talks, the security situation in the war-ravaged region has improved dramatically. The continuation of the peace talks and political will to meet these arising post-conflict challenges could not be more essential. Read more at IRIN News.

With the UN Security Council yesterday approving a plan to deploy peacekeepers to Somalia, Uganda is preparing to send a battalion of peacekeeping troops to Somalia as soon as approval is granted by its Parliament. The international community is extremely concerned that that tension between the President Yusuf's Transitional Federal Government and the Union of Islamic Courts could spark regional war. While it would seem appropriate to applaud any country that contributes troops to peacekeeping for such a situation, one cannot help being a bit cynical.

First, how can Uganda justify sending "peacekeepers" outside the country, when its own citizens in the north are still facing insecurity and a one of the world's worst humanitarian crises? The Government's eagerness to deploy troops to Somalia while its own citizens continue to grossly suffer only plays into allegations that the Government is not concerned about its responsibility to protect its own people. It also begs the question why the Government is so eager. According to some diplomats, Uganda has no direct interest in Somalia but its close relationship with the United States makes it a natural ally of the U.S.-backed transitional government. "The U.S. wants an ally in Somalia," said a Western diplomat in Kampala. "It's no secret the U.S. has been training Ugandan special forces and giving them equipment." If so, is the U.S. unwillingness to definitively support the Juba peace talks somehow connected to these geo-politics?

The Ugandan military and LRA rebels violated a landmark truce by clashing in parts of south Sudan that had been out of bounds for both sides, the head ceasefire monitor said today. "Both sides have violated," ceasefire monitoring chief Major-General Wilson Deng Kuoirot said. "They had clashes in places they were not supposed to be." Under the cessation of hostilities truce, the rebels had until December to assemble at two locations. The LRA said a group of rebels east of the Nile tried to reach one of the two, Owiny-Ki-Bul, but were then attacked by the Ugandan army. Kuoirot said the clashes happened in two places east of Juba and hundreds of miles from where the rebels claimed. "Neither the LRA nor the UPDF (Uganda People's Defence Forces) are supposed to be in those places," he said. The LRA admitted the clashes took place where Kuoirot said. The Ugandan army reiterated its denial: "We were not there, so there was no clash," spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

Resistance to the UPDF’s forcible disarmament program in Karamoja has led to a marked escalation of violence in this northeastern region of Uganda during the past five weeks. 150 people have been killed and 1000 others displaced during fighting between military forces and Karamajong warriors since violence erupted in late October. Military “cordon and search” operations have destroyed homesteads and granaries and resulted in the death of thousands of cattle, disrupting livelihoods in one of Uganda’s poorest regions. UPDF soldiers and Karamajong warriors have been implicated in gross human rights abuses during the fighting, including extrajudicial executions, rape, illegal arrests and detentions, torture, forced labor and extortion of money.

Calls from Karamajong leaders for a review of the UPDF’s disarmament programme have been ignored by the Ugandan government, and yesterday Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that cordon and search operations to disarm the Karimojong would be intensified. Uganda-CAN calls on the Ugandan government to urgently review the disarmament program in Karamoja and work with Karamajong leaders to reduce arms proliferation and stabilize the region. Click here to read more about the continuing violence in Karamoja.

The situation in northern Uganda has remained largely calm over the last two weeks. The extended Cessation of Hostilities Agreement is still holding, though both sides have accused the other of not complying with its terms. While there have been no attacks or abductions, there are reported cases of criminal activity of small armed groups in the region. Still, with this relative calmness, displaced persons have been able to move more freely and some are accessing land up to 8 kilometers away from their camps. Also, according to UNICEF, the total number of child "night commuters" in Kitgum, Gulu and Kalongo districts has reduced from 7894 in September to 6344 in October. In Gulu however, there was an increase from 2867 to 2956. Reasons for this increase are unknown. Developments in the Juba peace process will be crucial in coming weeks to see that peace can finally be consolidated to allow for people to return home and begin rebuilding their livelihoods.

Dr. James Obita, a member of the LRA who has been living in United Kingdom, has been appointed LRA's new technical advisor to the negotiating delegation in Juba. LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti confirmed Obita's appointment, saying it was necessary because the team in Juba needed a more senior person like Obita to advise on technical matters. Meanwhile the LRA have welcomed the move by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint the former president of Mozambique Joachim Chisano as UN envoy for northern Uganda. Read more at The Monitor.

The Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Agnes van Ardenne has suggested that the stalemate in the Juba peace talks is a result of the continued presence of the UPDF in South Sudan. In an interview with Miraya FM, a UN radio in Juba, van Ardenne said the LRA fighters are reluctant to assemble because of fear for their security. "What I know is that the LRA has problems with the fact that the UPDF is still in South Sudan. I think there is a ground for that accusation. It is not an accusation but an issue of security," van Ardenne said. In a reaction, the UPDF said the minister was misinformed. The army spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulayigye, said: "It would be prudent for her to know that the UPDF entered South Sudan because it has always been a sanctuary for the LRA. The LRA would enter Uganda, commit atrocities and run back to the safety of South Sudan." He said the UPDF was nowhere near the assembly points. Read more at The New Vision.

The Juba peace process might now depend on an 83-year-old woman, Nora Anek, mother of LRA leader Joseph Kony. Living in Mukono, the old lady is preparing to go and see her son in the DR Congo. "I am very excited about going," says Anek, who last saw her son in 1989. "I really want to see him so that I can advise him to get in contact with the President and agree on bringing peace." Kony’s mother wants to warn her son about those who are trying to use him and encouraging him to keep on fighting. She was scheduled to travel to her son’s hide-out in DR Congo today, but the trip has been postponed because of a bad cough. She revealed she talked to her son briefly by satellite phone 10 days ago, assuring him that she was alive and telling him she was looking forward to seeing him face-to-face. Read more at The New Vision.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said yesterday that he is willing to talk directly with LRA leader Joseph Kony. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Museveni said, "I talk to all sorts of people. I can talk to Kony. When you send messages, why can’t you talk directly?" He also expressed confidence in the peace process, while warning that its failure would lead to renewed military operations against the LRA, saying, "Whatever happens in Juba, there will be peace in northern Uganda. This business of fujo is finished. They (LRA) cannot come back and disturb us. We have the means to fight them. The army is almost complete now." Read more at The New Vision.

David Wakikona, the Northern Reconstruction Minister, said last week that money earmarked for Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) in Lira district is being mismanaged. NUSAF was designed by the Ugandan government to jumpstart development and reconstruction in northern Uganda, but many critics say that chronic insecurity and mismanagement of funds has prevented it from having any real effect on the ground. Read more at The New Vision.

Three officers in the Ugandan military were arrested on charges of stealing cattle in Karamoja and later selling them in Pader district. The officers and the troops they commanded are also accused of attacking Karamojong civilians. UPDF spokesman Felix Kulayigye said that the three officers would face a Division Court Martial. Karamojong raiders have killed at least six people in Pader during attempts to retrieve the catte. Read more at The Monitor.

All Night Commuter Centres in the town of Kitgum in northern Uganda have been shut down, leaving hundreds of children in need of a safe place to sleep. The Kitgum District Security Committee ordered that all of the refuges be closed down owing to improved security in the region. The number of night commuters has decreased drastically in the past year with the relative security brought upon by the Juba peace talks. However, many children with poor support networks have continued to utilize refuges for night commuters. Read more at The Monitor.

In an effort to bring a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in northern Uganda while addressing its wider regional ramifications, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano his Special Envoy to help deal with the issue of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and its brutal 20-year-long rebellion. "He will develop a cohesive and forward-looking policy approach among all external actors," Annan said in a letter to the Security Council, offering his good offices to the countries of the region in the light of ongoing peace talks between the Ugandan Government and the LRA. Chissano, as Special Envoy for the LRA-affected areas, will seek a solution that addresses the root causes of the conflict and will liaise with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Read more at the UN News Service.

Uganda-CAN applauds this move by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to bring international support and accountability to the historic peace opportunity in the Juba talks. Mr. Chissano's leadership will bolster the talks and show the parties that the international community is truly committed to an end to this, Africa's longest-running war.

LRA leader Joseph Kony has asked the state for 3 million head of cattle to be sent to northern Uganda. Betty Amongi, the chairperson of AMANI Uganda Chapter told the group Friday at Parliament: "He [Kony] said the people of northern Uganda lost their cattle to Karimojong warriors and the government should compensate them with 3 million head of cattle as part of the demobilisation, disarmament, reintegration and resettlement of the Lords Resistance Army," Amongi said. The LRA also demands that a referendum be held in 12 months after signing the agreement, a move the rebels say will show that there is genuine demand for a federal form of government as the only way for guaranteeing political stability of the country. There is further information that the LRA team has tabled a new set of refined demands, including special protection for its fighters and the establishment of a fully-fledged ministry in which the rebels would have a stake, a proposal the government has flatly rejected. The 26-page document, containing fresh LRA demands, surfaced after the LRA delegation was joined by a team from the US and UK. Read more at The Monitor.

The monitoring team of the Cessation of Hostilities truce was yesterday scheduled to visit the scene of alleged clashes between the UPDF and LRA rebels. The LRA walked out of the Juba talks last week, citing attacks by the UPDF on their fighters moving to Owiny Ki-bul, one of the assembly points. UPDF has denied the allegations. Further, as a confidence-building measure, the Government is facilitating a visit of Kony’s mother, Nora Oting, to her son at his base at the border of Sudan and the DR Congo tomorrow. "We are leaving on Wednesday morning," the team leader, Gulu RDC Walter Ochora, disclosed. "We shall charter a plane to Maridi and proceed with a UN helicopter to Nabanga in Southern Sudan." Read more at The New Vision.

Opposition MPs boycotted a sensitisation workshop on land rights organised by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Gulu yesterday. They said they knew more about Acholi land than the Government officials who came to sensitise them. Instead, they told a press conference in Kampala that investors were welcome to Acholiland as long as they shared the profits with the landlords. However, in his opening speech at the meeting, the Acholi paramount chief Rwot David Onen Acana II, criticized the MPs who failed to turn up, accusing them of not respecting the traditional leaders and politicising the matter to gain popularity. "The issue of land is a matter of life and death," Rwot Acana said. "It should not be mixed with politics. There is nowhere you can discuss land issues better than here. The Government should come out with a clear position on Acholi land. We should not look at those opposition MPs who are making noise about our land like fools." The Rwot warned that land disputes will increase as the insurgency ends and people return to their homes. Read more at The New Vision.

The war-affected community has welcomed the Juba peace talks and expressed willingness to reconcile with their tormentors for the sake of peace. However, experts believe a comprehensive peace where communities will have to reconcile with each other is one way of addressing years of horrific suffering and human rights abuses. The government has indicated its readiness to plan a process of national reconciliation. "It is impossible to achieve national peace if we do not have peace within ourselves and families. Peaceful families are essential ingredients in the recipe for community and national peace," Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi said on Friday while presenting a paper. However, Prof. Makau Mutua, the chairperson of Kenya’s Human Rights Commission in a paper presented by Gulu District Chairman Nobert Mao, said national reconstruction and reconciliation is not possible without truth and justice. "Domestic truth and reconciliation processes might yield several options. Some commission processes seek the truth, others justice and reconciliation and others all the three," he said. "In Uganda the process must combine truth telling with justice and national reconciliation." Read more at The Monitor.

Members of the Ugandan Parliament on Friday accused the government of double standards following its failure to convince the International Criminal Court (ICC) to drop arrest warrants issued against LRA leader Joseph Kony and his top commanders. While brainstorming on the peace talks at a workshop organised by the Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum, MPs said the case the government filed with the ICC is hindering the peace process in Juba. "The high command [Kony and Otti] is unable to attend because of the ICC. It's high time the government dropped the case. It's no longer helpful to pursue the case because our people are tired of war and need peace," Obongi MP Hassan Fungaroo said. In response to the MPs attacks, Ruhakana Rugunda, the chairman of the government's negotiating team and minister of internal affairs, said the ICC is not an enemy to peace in Uganda and that they are partners. Read more at The Monitor.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered a review of the effects of the peace talks on the LRA indictments. The presiding judge, Mauro Politi, issued an order from the court headquarters in The Hague on November 30, directing the prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, to update him on the commitment of Uganda, the DR Congo and Sudan in executing the warrants of arrest against five LRA commanders. Moreno is requested to investigate in particular whether the peace negotiations and recent events in the region have affected the level of cooperation by the relevant governments. Read more at The New Vision.

The Daily Monitor has printed a staff editorial urging the Government to show fairness when dealing with Acholi land concerns and fears. They write, "With probable peace on the horizon, some members of the Acholi community have become increasingly jittery about as yet unverified - but public - information that there are grand designs to appropriate large tracts of the fabulously fertile virgin land for large scale agriculture. The case for investment should be made clearly to avoid confusion and suspicion." They continue, "Above all, government and the combative MPs on the other side must climb down from the confrontational path they have both led. Incitement to violence must be resisted in as much as provocation should be abhorred. The Acholi land question is a delicate one which should not be reduced to a right versus might fight." Read the full editorial at The Monitor.

LRA leader Joseph Kony has asked for direct talks with President Museveni. He gave this message to a team that went to see him in his hideout in the DR Congo last week. "Museveni and Kony can bring peace faster than the Juba talks as long as Museveni understands Kony," the LRA leader told the team. "This can happen if there is no misunderstanding between the two and there is direct communication between them in a straight and frank way, without any distortion. Whatever is agreed upon should be implemented." Kony also requested to meet his mother. "Bring my mother to meet me here. Her coming to me is more important than the Juba peace talks. I would believe my mother next to God and take her advice very seriously as she is one person who would never want me to die, so she would never betray me," he said. "The President said he would respond in writing to the LRA leader’s demands," Walter Ochora said. Plans are also being made to take Kony’s mother to him at his Congo base. Read more at The New Vision.

Last week (while our site was down), ICC expert Katherine Southwick wrote on The Washington Post's famous PostGlobal blog about the challenges of peace and justice in northern Uganda. Southwick writes, "To insist on international prosecution when peace is at hand (a determination to be made largely by the parties) and when an alternative vision for accountability is emerging on the ground is to allow one idea of the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Having long failed to help resolve this brutal war, the international community, including the ICC, now has an opportunity to help Uganda achieve -- through peaceful means -- lasting peace with justice." Read and comment on Southwick's article at PostGlobal.

The Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) has rejected the proposal to sell or lease any land in their northern sub-region to investors. Instead, the APG says the only acceptable way is for Acholi landowners to convert their land into shares in the investors' companies. While other parliamentarians returned to Kampala for the reopening of the Parliament, the Acholi MPs are busy traveling their districts, addressing five rallies a day per constituency, sensitising their people on the 'danger' of leasing or selling their land. A primary condition the Acholi MPs are setting is that all IDPs should return to their homes before any investor's application is entertained. The second condition is that the landowners get equity in the investments. Read more at The Monitor.

LRA leader Joseph Kony has threatened to return to war if the peace talks in Juba collapse. "We shall resume our normal activities in case the government plans to jeopardise the peace talks," Kony said Thursday night. "We are going to fight to defend our lives if the government is not taking these peace talks seriously," he said. "They are alleging that the LRA has violated the truce by not assembling at Owiny Ki-bul. How should we assemble when they have deployed 12 lorries of UPDF around Owiny Ki-bul?" Kony complained. Talking by satellite phone from his base in Garamba in DR Congo, the LRA leader discouraged the resettlement of the internally displaced persons, contradicting his call last week for people to go home. Kony's second in command, Vincent Otti, added that the peace talks should be shifted from Juba to another country. Read more at The New Vision.

The United Nations is making a Consolidated Appeal for Uganda in the upcoming year of US $296 million to address the emergency and transitional needs of all IDPs in all the phases of displacement, along with other need relating to violence in the region. UNOCHA writes, "To respond to the continuing humanitarian crisis in northern and north-eastern Uganda in 2007, humanitarian and human rights partners will focus on five priority areas: (1) Enhancing protection and living conditions of IDPs in camps; (2) Supporting voluntary population movement; (3) Supporting returned populations and community recovery; (4) Improving protection, access to services and emergency preparedness and response in Karamoja; and (5) Ensuring the delivery of protection for all refugees and asylum seekers." Read more at ReliefWeb.

Though Uganda has historically held a reputation for having controlled its HIV/AIDS problem, Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon writes that the extent of the virus in northern Uganda is perhaps more severe than figures indicate, especially "as the expansion of combination antiretroviral therapy to the camps has been severely limited due to dangerous access routes and impoverished resources." He writes, "Yet, the spectre of AIDS haunts the calm that has come to the region...AIDS is the second highest reported reason for death after malaria in the region according to the World Health Organisation." Health organizations are working to combat the disease through prevention and treatment, but the toll of violence and horrid conditions in IDP camps make such work extremely difficult. Read more at Pambazuka News.