Ten items originally from Wednesday, including two press releases (updated originally both to reflect a newer version of the BBC story on the source page, and to add the second, newer AFP story; updated still further, on Thursday, to reflect an even-newer version of the BBC story on the source page):
(See also, most recently, Tuesday's from DPA.)
By VOA's Cathy Majtenyi...
The deadline for the Ugandan government and a northern rebel group to renew a provisional ceasefire expires [on] Wednesday. Both sides accuse the other of refusing to resume peace talks that would come up with a permanent peace agreement. Cathy Majtenyi reports from Nairobi.
The Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group were to have reviewed and renewed the cessation of hostilities agreement [that] they signed last year and, hopefully, come up with a permanent peace agreement arrived at through peace talks.
But the talks, which began in the southern Sudanese town of Juba last July, were patchy at best and eventually broke down.
It is unclear what will happen to the agreement or the peace talks after Wednesday, the deadline of when the two were supposed to have renewed the agreement.
Rebel spokesman Obonyo Olweny describes to VOA the situation.
"The ceasefire, the cessation of hostilities agreement, remains valid," he said. "So the two forces - the LRA and the UPDF [Ugandan army], the government of Uganda, are still obligated to observe the cessation of hostilities. But then, we must continue pressing for a resumption of the talks."
But media reports quote a top rebel official as saying the rebels will not renew the ceasefire. [see below]
Presidential advisor John Nagenda accuses the rebels of not wanting to resume the peace talks. He says [that] if the rebels do not return to the table soon, the talks will be over and so will the ceasefire.
"The whole reason there's a ceasefire was because the talks were going on - that is why there's a ceasefire. If these people have left the talks, how can they expect the ceasefire to continue," he asked.
Both the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government are deadlocked over the location of the talks.
The rebels accuse Sudanese negotiators of being biased, and say [that] they are willing to hold talks only in Kenya, South Africa, or another location outside of Juba, while the government insists [that] it will only negotiate in Juba.
They also accuse each other of refusing to continue the peace talks, not negotiating in good faith, stalling for time to build up their armies, and violating the ceasefire.
The Lord's Resistance Army rose up in northern Uganda in the late 1980s, to fight what they said was political repression.
They are said to have committed brutal atrocities, including kidnapping tens of thousands of children and indiscriminately killing, raping and attacking the local population.
From IRIN...
A day before a ceasefire agreement between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) was due to lapse, with no sign of an extension, observers fear [that] northern Uganda could again plunge into violence.
"The international community must insist that both parties take urgent and extraordinary measures to ensure a peaceful resolution," Save the Children said in a statement on Wednesday, noting that the majority of fighters within the LRA ranks were children. [see below]
The LRA announced in January [that] it was pulling out of peace talks mediated by the government of south Sudan in the city of Juba, following comments by Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir that the group was no longer welcome on Sudanese territory. The LRA leadership demanded a ‘neutral venue’ for the talks, suggesting that Kenya or South Africa should mediate.
The cessation of hostilities agreement signed in August 2006 has largely held, despite both sides questioning each other’s commitment. It obliged the rebels to assemble in two neutral places, and required that government troops respect the truce.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Gulu, John-Baptist Odama, expressed optimism that the government and the rebels would consider the suffering of the people in the region and extend the truce and resume peace talks.
"In spite of the fact that the truce agreement is expiring tonight, there is still hope that both sides will consider the suffering people and renew it, in order to stabilise the peace process," said Odama.
He appealed to the United Nations Secretary-General’s special envoy for northern Uganda, Joachim Chissano, to take up the issue of the lapsing ceasefire.
Cosmas Onen, who manages a shelter in Gulu town for children who leave their homes every night to seek shelter in urban areas, where they are less likely to be abducted by the LRA, said [that] fear was apparent among the residents of Gulu, the area worst affected by the conflict that has lasted two decades, killed hundreds of thousands and displaced about 1.7 million.
"There is a fear that the war will resume, and that is why only a few [internally displaced] people have returned to their homes, despite a campaign by the authorities," he said.
"Everybody had hopes in the peace talks, but all the hope has been lost, because the peace talks have become peace jokes," he added.
According to aid agencies, an estimated 230,000 internally displaced people in northern Ugandan returned to their villages in 2006, thanks to improved security with the start of talks between the government and the LRA. However, up to 1.2 million more remain in camps, while some have moved to satellite camps nearer their villages, to gain access to their farms.
By Reuters' Tim Cocks...
Lord's Resistance Army rebels will not renew a landmark truce with the Ugandan government set to expire on Wednesday, a top LRA official said, raising fears of a new chapter in the brutal 20-year war in northern Uganda.
The LRA pulled out of peace talks with the government in south Sudan's capital, Juba, last month, citing security fears after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir threatened to "get rid of the LRA from Sudan".
They have refused to resume talks, unless another venue outside Sudan is found, a request [that] Kampala rejects as a time-wasting tactic.
"We are not going to renew anything," LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti told Reuters by satellite telephone from his forest hideout in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The ceasefire, signed in August and renewed last December, raised hopes of an end to a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 1.7 million in northern Uganda.
It will expire at midnight on Wednesday.
"(The truce) is just a playing tactic of the government while they renew military operations against us. Why renew an agreement [that] they are not respecting?" Otti said.
Both sides accuse each other of violations. The government says [that] the LRA failed to gather at two agreed assembly points inside south Sudan; the rebels say [that] the Ugandan army used the meeting points to besiege them and attack their fighters.
Otti said [that] the LRA had no plans to resume hostilities, but would hit back in self-defence. He added that the LRA would happily sign an extension of the truce in another venue.
Addressing journalists late on Tuesday, President Yoweri Museveni warned [that] military operations against the LRA were still possible.
"Peace in Uganda will be maintained with or without peace talks," he said. "Talks were mainly for the benefit of the terrorists. If they don't give in, that will be their problem."
Analysts say [that] Museveni has had little faith in the peace process, but sees that it might be the only way out of a costly war that has tarnished Uganda's international image.
"Museveni is a man who believes in force, not negotiated settlement," Paul Omach, a political scientist at Kampala's Makerere University, told Reuters. "But he's also pragmatic. It was internal political pressure that made him accept talks."
Aid agencies nevertheless fear the resumption of one of Africa's longest wars and renewed humanitarian catastrophe.
The LRA are notorious for cruel attacks on civilians: bludgeoning people to death, mutilating victims, and abducting thousands of children to use as fighters and sex-slaves.
From the BBC...
A cessation of hostilities in the 20-year civil war between the Ugandan government and [the] Lord's Resistance Army has expired, with no new deal in sight.
Both sides have warned that they will retaliate if attacked.
A fragile truce has been in place for six months, but talks were halted when the rebels walked out in December.
The LRA accuses the Uganda government of violating the truce, and says [that] it will fight if President Yoweri Museveni will not talk to them.
"We are not going to renew the truce because there are no peace talks at the moment. But if we are attacked, we shall retaliate and then continue fighting," LRA Deputy Commander Vincent Otti told AFP news agency by satellite phone, a few hours before the ceasefire expired at midnight (2100GMT Wednesday).
"We feel like we want to negotiate peace with the government, but if Museveni refuses to talk, we shall go back to the barrel of the gun and fight a prolonged war." [see below]
Leaders of the Acholi people in northern Uganda are making a fresh attempt to reconcile the government and LRA.
They are to meet in the next few days across the border in southern Sudan, to try to restart talks between the two sides
Dashed hopes
In August [of] last year, when the LRA and the Ugandan government agreed to stop fighting, hopes were high that one of the most deadly and savage civil wars in Africa might be coming to an end.
The two sides agreed to meet and talk in southern Sudan.
But negotiations soon stopped, because of fundamental disagreement on vital areas like power sharing and reform of the Ugandan army.
International Criminal Court indictments against the LRA leadership for human rights abuses proved another obstacle. Now the LRA claims [that] the Ugandan government has violated the ceasefire.
The Ugandan government alleges that LRA fighters have gone back into the bush in the Central African Republic and the eastern Congo.
From the AP...
A Sudanese cease-fire monitor said [that] he expected the Lord's Resistance Army to honor its truce with the Ugandan government, even though the rebels refused to resume talks as the deal neared expiration [on] Wednesday.
So far, the truce is the main achievement of talks sponsored by and held in southern Sudan, a volatile region that along with eastern [DR] Congo has been destablized by the conflict in northern Uganda.
But the negotiations broke down in January, after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said [that] the only solution to the conflict was a military one. At the same time, Southern Sudan's president said [that] his government was losing patience with delays in the talks.
The rebels have questioned Sudan's neutrality, and demanded [that] the meetings be moved to a venue outside that country. They also want a new mediator assigned to the talks.
"Practically speaking, we expect that the agreement will continue in silence, until the two sides can come together and renew it. We do not expect a resumption of hostilities," said Maj. Gen. Wilson Deng, who heads the ceasefire monitoring team.
Deng said that the chief mediator, Southern Sudan Vice President Riek Machar, was working hard to get the two teams back to the negotiating table in Juba, the region's capital.
Henry Okello Oyrem, Uganda's deputy foreign affairs minister, said that a meeting was scheduled in Juba later this week to discuss how to get negotiations back on track.
"We expect that two members of the (rebel) delegation will come to Juba, to help us resolve this problem," he said.
The LRA has led a brutal insurgency against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni since the mid-1980s, leaving thousands dead and forcing 1.7 million people to flee their homes, according to relief organizations.
The two sides signed the ceasefire in August, but alleged violations have led to ugly recriminations and temporary walkouts, raising fears [that] the deal to end one of Africa's longest wars may unravel.
The LRA is notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of innocent civilians and kidnapping thousands of children and forcing them to be soldiers and sex slaves.
By DPA's Henry Wasswa...
For the first time in many years, guns fell silent in August 2006, when battle-wary combatants in Uganda's civil war inked a landmark truce, moving a step to end one of Africa's most brutal conflicts.
This was not to be, however. A few weeks into the peace talks between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels and the Ugandan government, disagreements erupted, forcing a series of extensions of the ceasefire period.
Peace talks have remained fragile since. Real commitment to peace appears lacking. Both sides have showed no real willingness to end the war.
The latest ceasefire agreement expires on Wednesday, amid no clear indication of whether peace talks will resume, as rebels indicate [that] they want to change the venue for talks and [as] many appear to have moved out of Ugandan territory.
The majority of suffering civilians want war in northern Uganda that has seen thousands killed or maimed and nearly 2 million displaced, to end.
Thousands of children were abducted and forced to work as child soldiers, committing for the LRA. Girls were turned into sex slaves.
There has been a breakdown of the peace talks, Frederick Jjuuko, a law professor at Uganda's state university of Makerere told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Wednesday.
LRA waged war from bases in southern Sudan until late 2005, when their leaders and hundreds of fighters were forced to move to the lawless north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Its leadership claims [that] Sudan - mediators in the conflict since July 2006 - is biased against them, and [has] demanded that the venue of talks be shifted from Sudan to Kenya or South Africa.
But the government of Uganda rejected the demand as the end of the latest two-month ceasefire, brokered late last year, drew near.
LRA leaders and hundreds of fighters have reportedly steadily begun moving westward, reaching the Central African Republic, according to military officials, [...] casting further darkness over the future of talks.
'Government still believes in the talks to end the war, but should the LRA continue moving away from negotiations, we will have no option but to use other means to end the war,' Ugandan military spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye told dpa.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants of arrest on war crimes charges for five top LRA commanders in October 2005.
Analysts say [that] although the Ugandan government has assured the LRA protection from arrest, the rebels fear that the Sudanese government plans to hand them over to the ICC.
'The LRA is not in a strong position in the talks, as they are wanted by the ICC. I do not see how they stand to gain, when they run away from the talks,' said Peter Mwesigye, the former editor-in-chief of Uganda's independent Daily Monitor newspaper.
'I think [that] the LRA have genuine concerns about their safety, and fear [that] the Sudanese will capture them and hand them over to the ICC. They fear for their safety in Sudan,' he told dpa.
The deputy leader of the Ugandan peace team, Henry Oryem Okello, said this week that the government was engaged in behind-the-scenes consultations with LRA rebels, and planned to hold talks with them in southern Sudan later in the week.
Very few if any LRA combatants are within Uganda, as many [either are] scattered in southern Sudan or have followed their leaders to the Congo and the Central African Republic.
Carefully avoiding comments on the Wednesday expiry of the ceasefire period, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni meanwhile told reporters that he could not order his army to start fighting rebels who were not in his territory.
'Since they are not in Uganda, we cannot start operations until we reach an agreement with the governments in Congo and Sudan.
[']We shall be guided by the agreements with the governments in those countries,' he said.
From AFP (from earlier)...
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday warned [that] he would launch a fresh fight against any rebel Lord's Resistance Army fighters on his soil, after a truce expires on Wednesday.
The LRA rebels have vowed not to renew the truce - the only significant achievement of peace talks that began last July, aiming to end two decades of war.
Some of the rebels and their leaders are currently believed to be hiding in parts of southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), while others are said to be heading to the Central African Republic.
Museveni told reporters in Kampala that his country's defence forces could not fight the rebels when they were outside Ugandan soil, but added: "If they try to enter Uganda, we shall deal with them."
He was speaking after holding talks with visiting US General William Ward, the deputy commander of the European Command, a structure covering US military forces in Europe and Africa.
LRA lost trust in mediators
The LRA has insisted [that] it will only participate in peace talks at a new venue, under a different mediation, since it has lost trust in the south Sudanese mediators who brokered the now-stalled talks, and no longer wants to hold them in southern Sudan's regional capital, Juba.
It has accused the chief mediator, the region's vice-president Riek Machar, of bias - a charge [that] he has repeatedly denied.
In addition, the movement's deputy commander, Vincent Otti, has accused the Ugandan army of violating the truce by attacking his forces in southern Sudan in recent weeks, and vowed to fight back.
But Museveni downplayed the threat, saying [that] the movement had been weakened by a series of army attacks.
"We defeated them, and that is why they ran to (DR) Congo. There were no hostilities when they signed the cessation of hostilities agreement," Museveni said.
"There will be peace in Uganda, with or without the peace talks, because the peace talks were only good for the terrorists who wanted to get a soft landing," he added.
Also from AFP, reprinted on Sudan.Net (newer)...
The Ugandan government and northern rebels [on] Wednesday traded barbs, ahead of a midnight truce expiry, raising fears of fresh clashes that could wipe out a stalled peace process to end two decades of war.
The rebel Lord's Resistance Army vowed not to renew the truce and to counter army raids a day after President Yoweri Museveni threatened to attack any insurgents on Ugandan soil after the truce runs out on Wednesday at midnight (2100 GMT).
"We are not going to renew the truce, because there are no peace talks at the moment. But if we are attacked, we shall retaliate and then continue fighting," LRA Deputy Commander Vincent Otti told AFP by satellite phone from the south Sudan-Democratic Republic of Congo border.
"We feel like we want to negotiate peace with the government, but if Museveni refuses to talk, we shall go back to the barrel of the gun and fight a prolonged war."
The rebels themselves pulled out of peace talks in south Sudan's capital Juba in December, requesting a new venue and mediation after they lost trust in the southern Sudanese mediators, but Kampala dismissed it as time-wasting ploys.
The Ugandan army said [on] Wednesday that its troops were scouting the volatile north of the country in search of the rebels, accused of horrific brutality against civilians.
"We are patrolling the ground and if the LRA comes here we shall hit them," Lieutenant Chris Magezi, army spokesman in northern Uganda, told AFP.
"Otti is a terrorist and he will remain one until he embraces the peace process."
Meanwhile, Otti threatened to disrupt a Commonwealth summit in Uganda in November if peace talks failed to resume, to "prove [that] the LRA is alive".
"I am planning to send my boys to Kampala to do something that would disrupt the Commonwealth summit, if the peace talks fail and Museveni continues to say that he has defeated us and keeps calling us terrorists," Otti warned.
But the army dismissed the threat.
"He should should not threaten the Commonwealth (because) there are no UPDF (Ugandan army) members there, and this implies that he is a terrorist," Magezi said.
Fearing a surge in hostilities, aid groups and church leaders on Wednesday called on both sides to reconsider their refusal to renew the truce, the only substantial progress made since talks opened in July.
"The international community must insist that both parties take urgent and extraordinary measures to ensure a peaceful resolution (to the conflict)," Save the Children said in a statement.
Northern Uganda's Archbishop John Baptist Odama, who has been pressing talks for nearly a decade, urged the foes to "consider the suffering people and renew it (truce)."
The ceasefire, signed in August and renewed last December, raised hopes of an end to a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced around two million others.
Some of the rebels and their leaders are currently believed to be hiding in parts of southern Sudan and DRC, while others are said to be heading to the Central African Republic.
Alongside LRA supremo Joseph Kony and three other commanders, Otti has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes and against humanity.
The conflict has raged since 1988, when the elusive Kony took charge of a two-year-old regional rebellion, sparking what aid groups have described as the world's most neglected conflict.
Save the Children press release...
As celebrations continue for Forest Whitaker's Oscar win as Idi Amin in [The] Last King of Scotland, the shadow of possible conflict looms over more than a million Ugandan children.
With 24 hours to go until the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the Government of Uganda and [the] Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) expires, the safety and security of Uganda's children is under severe threat. Despite the urgency of the situation, both the Government of Uganda and the LRA are refusing to commit to further peace talks.
If conflict resumes in Uganda, children will once again be the main casualties, vulnerable to being shot, killed, abducted and maimed. Up to 80% of the ranks of the Lord's Resistance Army are children, with 1,500 currently held by the fighting group and another 10,000 ex-recruits still unaccounted for.
Save the Children is calling on:
- Both parties to resume peace talks and commit to a peaceful solution to the conflict;
- The Government of Uganda and the LRA to agree an extension to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement;
- The international community to make clear [that] no international political support will be given to the Ugandan government or the LRA if one or both sides return to war;
- Both sides to immediately cease all military activity, as stipulated in the Cessation of the Hostilities Agreement, in order not to undermine the peace talks and build confidence between the parties and with the communities affected; [and]
- The LRA to assemble and immediately release all women and children.
Since the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed in August [of] last year, progress has been made with help from NGOs such as Save the Children to get children into school and displaced families back to their homes. If tomorrow's deadline is allowed to pass, all progress could crumble.
John Reinstein, Operations Director, Save the Children in Uganda:
"This is a crucial moment for children in Uganda. With only 24 hours to go, the situation is desperate. The international community must act now, to ensure [that] over a million children and their families are not thrown back into the insecurity of war. A return to conflict is in nobody's interest, and will have catastrophic affects on children's emotional and physical wellbeing. International governments must insist in no uncertain terms that both sides get together and take up the peace talks. Uganda's children can't wait."
WER press release...
With news of the ceasefire coming to an end without any peace agreement being achieved, WER has this week shipped a further 20 tons of humanitarian and development aid to northern Uganda, as part of the charity’s continued support for people affected by conflict in the region.
This latest shipment, which includes educational equipment, hospital beds and medical supplies, has been prepared by WER in conjunction with Scottish charity Glasgow the Caring City and will be distributed through WER’s local partner agency in Uganda, All Nations Christian Care (ANCC).
Also included in the shipment are soap, clothing and household items which will be used to assist displaced people as they resettle in their rural home areas.
WER has been working in partnership with Ugandan charity ANCC since 2001 to assist with the delivery of humanitarian relief to tens of thousands of people who have been displaced by the activities of rebel army, the Lord’s Resistance Army.
More than 600 tons of emergency relief aid, hospital and educational equipment and medical supplies have been delivered to ANCC by WER over the past 6 years.
WER and ANCC are also working together to improve access to safe water sources for rural communities in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. To date, 50 water boreholes have been drilled by WER/ANCC in IDP camps and rural communities in the region. An additional drilling rig is due to be shipped to Uganda within the coming months, for use within remote communities in southern Sudan where lack of access to safe water continues to threaten the health and well-being of thousands of people.
Social change for the next generation
Young girl with infant child at refugee camp in Darfur. Photo by Dan Scandling, Office of U.S. Representative Frank Wolf