The Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, called on Tuesday for the international community to ensure that LRA leader Joseph Kony is arrested and put on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was speaking at the UN headquarters in NY at a high level meeting concerning peace and security in Africa. Verhofstadt, who has a 14-year-old adopted daughter who was abducted by the LRA, called on the UN peacekeeping force in the DR Congo (MONUC) to help arrest Kony. Verhofstadt’s comments echo recent calls by the US, Ugandan and Congolese governments to apply more military pressure on LRA forces in northeastern DR Congo. However, many analysts fear that incautious military pressure on the LRA could severely disrupt the fragile peace negotiations in Juba. Read more at The Monitor.

Claire Putzeys writes in today's Christian Science Monitor that communal healing in northern Uganda is more important than Western-style prosecutions. She writes, "In dealing with war crimes, the West has emphasized criminal proceedings and punishment, including use of the International Criminal Court (ICC); anything less, advocates say, leads to impunity and possibly future violence. Without justice, the adage goes, there is no peace." Yet, she writes, "For northern Ugandans, without forgiveness, there is no peace; justice is achieved through the restoration of relationships. And they have a cultural tradition in place for achieving this: mato oput, a longstanding practice that involves truth-telling and accountability, forgiveness, and reparations." Putzeys urges the international community to support northern Ugandans in this practice. Even more, she says that the West must contront "the well-meaning but harmful attitude that Africa needs to be 'saved,' a theme in much of today's social activism." Read the full Op/Ed here.

The New York Times has an article and online video today about "cracks in the peace" between the North and South of Sudan. The article points out that military tensions are high and the peace agreement between the two is in danger of collapse. The agreement gives southerners a referendum in 2011 on seceding from the country, however most observers believe the central government in Khartoum will never allow that to happen because of the rich oil reserves in the South. The LRA, which has terrorized northern Uganda, may again be used as a proxy militia to destabilize the region. For this reason, many in southern Sudan are closely following the negotiations in Juba and hoping for a final agreement. Meanwhile, recent field visits and reporting on southern Sudan suggest that the region is still devastated, with people living in squalid poverty in an arms-ridden and lawless environment. Many believe the conditions in south Sudan are far worse than any other area in the wider region. Yet, recent exclusive focus on Darfur, and to some extent northern Uganda, has meant that many in the international community continue to overlook the continuing tragedy of southern Sudan.

The UN’s World Food Programme announced today that it needs $65 million to support 1.7 million Ugandans affected by droughts, floods and conflict until March 2008. Recent extreme flooding has destroyed crops in northern and eastern Uganda, leaving 300,000 in need of support. In northeastern Karamoja ongoing droughts and insecurity has left 500,000 people in need of support. The WFP is also providing crucial aid to hundreds of thousands of northern Ugandans as they take advantage of improved security and begin to return home. Read more at UN News.

The UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo (MONUC) is ready to back the Congolese army to flush out the LRA and other armed groups from eastern Congo to ensure security in the Great Lakes region. "We are very concerned about the presence of the LRA and other armed groups in the DRC. Now we have the mandate to use force. We are deploying together with the DRC army to make sure that the LRA or other armed groups don’t make the DRC their safe haven," said William Lacy Swing, the head of MONUC. Swing has been in Kampala for the meeting of the Tripartite Plus Joint Commission, which was attended by ministers of defence and foreign affairs, as well as security chiefs, from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC. Read more at The New Vision.

The International Crisis Group has issued its latest briefing on northern Uganda, calling on the international community to increase leverage to push forward the Juba peace process. The brief, "Northern Uganda Peace Process: The Need to Maintain Momentum," examines the ongoing negotiations and the necessity for the international community to remain committed to the process. "The Juba peace process has matured in the last year and improved the lives of millions of civilians, both in northern Uganda and southern Sudan", says Crisis Group Analyst Adam O'Brien. "But negotiating the remaining details and implementation require more leverage, focus and discipline." The brief says that a two-track strategy – negotiating away the LRA security threat in Juba, and dealing with long-term redevelopment in northern Uganda – remains the best approach to ending the conflict.

The LRA reacted angrily yesterday to the news that Uganda and DR Congo have signed an agreement “to eliminate all negative forces operating from the two countries…within 90 days.” LRA commander Vincent Otti said, "We strongly condemn what Mr Museveni and Mr Kabila have agreed on. We are ready to fight anyone who attacks us. This deal is not in good faith. It is against the spirit of peace. Though we are ready to face anyone who wants to fight us we still want to talk peace." The agreement, signed on Saturday, came on the heels of US diplomat Jendayi Frazer’s statements last week that the US would support efforts to “mop up” the LRA in the DR Congo if peace talks faltered. Despite the need for accountability and continued progress at the Juba peace talks, military threats run the risk of undermining confidence in the negotiations and jeopardizing the process. Read more at The Monitor.

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday signed a landmark agreement that will reportedly see the LRA rebels flushed out of Garamba Park within 90 days. In the final agreement, which Museveni described as "fantastic," it was also agreed that "the process of apprehension, disarmament and demobilisation of the negative forces including the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels shall, within 90 days, be demonstrably undertaken in either countries." This will be done through joint military operations with the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUC). Both countries agreed to deny sanctuary to any person opposed to the disarmament. It is unclear how this action will impact the ongoing peace talks in Juba that most believe is the best opportunity for lasting peace in northern Uganda. Read more at The New Vision.

The International Herald Tribune has joined Ugandan media sources in covering the visit of Jendayi Frazer, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, to Kampala. On Wednesday, Frazer said that the U.S. would support regional efforts to apprehend LRA rebels if peace talks fail. "We feel that we have the basis, especially under the U.N. Security Council resolutions, to assist an effort to mop up the LRA," said Jendayi Frazer, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs. For the rebels, "the peace talks are their way out," Frazer said. While this signals much greater attention by Washington to the 21-year conflict, most civil society groups would like to see the U.S. put more energy into supporting the peace talks before preparing a military "Plan B." Military threats can bring leverage to negotiations, but they also run the risk of diminishing confidence and trust. The war-weary people of northern Uganda strongly believe the current peace talks are the best chance to end their nightmare.

The US State Department’s top-ranking official on Africa, Jendayi Frazer, expressed support for progress at the Juba peace talks between the LRA and Ugandan government but said that they should not be “open-ended.” Frazer, who met with Pres. Museveni in Uganda yesterday, also articulated US support for military action against the LRA if the peace talks failed, saying, “We asked MONUC (the UN peace keeping mission in Congo) and the Congolese Government to take action against the LRA, to assist mop up the LRA and get them out of Garamba...” The LRA has been angered recently by talks between leaders in Uganda, Central African Republic and DR Congo over possible military action against their positions. Frazer also expressed support for Uganda’s peacekeeping role in Somalia and urged Pres. Museveni to defuse recent border tensions with DR Congo. Read more at The New Vision.

Northern Ugandan civil society has urged the Commonwealth Head of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) this November to discuss the problem of landmines in the war-torn region. This was one of many views from ongoing consultative workshops, organised by the Commonwealth Peoples’ Forum to gather views on the summit. "Most of the land (in the north) has been battlefields, with landmines. Although the de-mining process is going on, it is very expensive," said Henry Nickson Ogwal, the national coordinator of the Commonwealth Education Fund. "The people in northern Uganda would like to feel that there is no conspiracy of silence. They believe in peace and would like to see it on the agenda. Like everybody else, they are seeing CHOGM as an opportunity to talk," said Warren Nyamugasira, the chairperson of the Commonwealth People’s Forum steering committee. Read more at The New Vision.