Stressing need to end suffering in Northern Uganda, Ban Ki-moon hails talks

Stressing the need to end the suffering in conflict-torn Northern Uganda, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the latest pledges by the parties to hold their fire and voiced hope that formal peace negotiations will soon resume.

The Secretary-General’s Envoy for areas affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Joaquim Chissano, yesterday chaired a meeting in Ri-Kwangba, Southern Sudan, with the main parties and participants to the “Juba Peace Initiative,” a process named for the southern Sudanese town which has played host to talks on the issue.

Reacting to the latest diplomatic moves, a spokesman for Mr. Ban said he is “is pleased that all parties in attendance, including LRA leader Joseph Kony, reiterated their commitment to peace and stated their readiness to extend the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement to which they are currently bound.”

Pointing out that those who have taken part in this conflict bear a responsibility to end the suffering in Northern Uganda, the Secretary-General voiced hope that the discussions begun yesterday “can lead in the near future to a resumption of the Juba peace talks,” spokesperson Michele Montas said.

“The Secretary-General looks forward to further discussions on the situation of the LRA-affected areas when his Special Envoy visits New York later this month to brief the Security Council,” she added.

Mr. Chissano has been in the region since February carrying on consultations with the rebel group’s leadership and northern Ugandan parties, as well as with concerned regional countries.

Thousands of civilians have been killed or abducted since the LRA began its rebellion in 1986, and more than 1.5 million people have become internally displaced in Uganda. Humanitarian operations in southern Sudan, which the rebel group has often used as a base, have been severely disrupted.

Mr. Chissano was named in December, 2006 as the Secretary-General’s envoy to help with efforts to speed up negotiations towards a durable peace deal. As part of his mandate, Mr. Chissano, a former President of Mozambique, will liaise with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has indicted Mr. Kony and four other senior LRA figures for war crimes.