Ugandan Rebels Seek Peace Talks

Senior commander Vincent Otti of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has stated a willingness to face the International Court to face justice in order to bring peace to the region. He has also stated that the Ugandan government should be willing to go the International Court to face charges of crimes committed in Northern Uganda against the people.

The LRA has fought in northern Uganda and Sudan for 19 years, abducting children and forcing them to fight.

This is very good news for the peace in this region. There has been much suffering, fear, death, slavery, and war. It is time to lay down arms, and allow people to choose their freedom.

"I am Lieutenant-General Vincent Otti and want this talk with the government of Uganda to end the rebellion, because now we fought for 20 years, we are ready for this talk from today," he said.

He called on the government to respond to the request for peace talks, and said he was speaking with the backing of rebel commander Joseph Kony.

Along with others, these two LRA commanders are wanted by the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

There has been many attempts to hold peace talks before, with President Yoweri Museveni desiring only a military solution.

There were peace talks on the table more than a year ago, but they broke. They are not the only thing that is broken. This country is 93,070 square miles (about the size of Oregon) with a population of approxiametely 26 million people. They appear to have the resources for a booming economy, if given the opportunity. Here is some information about Uganda.

Most of the information in this article was obtained from Passion of the Present, a very fine source of information. The focus is mostly on Darfur, Sudan, but they cover many other areas in Africa when time permits. SaveDarfur.org is also a very good site for information.

These people are doing a great job informing others so we may not stay ignorant. Only by knowledge can we truly effect change. Hey, if we don't know what is wrong-let alone if there is indeed something wrong-how can we demand justice?

Technorati tags: Uganda, peace talks, lord's resistance army, LRA, Passion of the Present, save darfur, and state department.