US wants deadline for talks

Kampala, Uganda, 5 September, 2007 - THE US Government has said the only way out for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is to sign the Juba peace agreement, reports Felix Osike.

Dr. Jendayi Fraser, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, told journalists in Kampala yesterday that the talks in the South Sudanese capital should have a deadline.

“The peace process is their way out. The other way is renewed efforts to apprehend them and we would support such efforts,” Fraser said.

She explained that the US supported the peace talks in Juba under the mediation of the Government of South Sudan and the UN Special Representative, former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano.

She applauded the progress made in the cessation of hostilities and dealing with issues of reconciliation and accountability.

“We look forward to the conclusion of the consultations and urge rapid progress on the remaining two items. We don’t believe it should be an open-ended process.”

Asked what the US would do if the talks failed, she replied: “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, because they are listed as negative forces in the Lusaka Accord and the UN Security Council resolution. On the indictments of the International Criminal Court, Fraser said: “There needs to be some accountability done through the national justice system.” The US is not a signatory to the ICC.

The US Government was concerned about the renewed fighting in eastern DRC and was working towards having the security situation improved, Frazer said.

“President Museveni assured me that he will continue to work to reduce tensions with the DRC. I also spoke to presidents Kabila and Kagame and urged both leaders to keep dialogue open and reduce tension.”

The US would support the disarmament programmes in the DRC and assist provisional authorities to establish civilian control and extend state authorities to areas plagued by conflict, she said.

On Somalia, Frazer hailed the UPDF serving under the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM. “The international community owes a great deal of gratitude to Uganda for its important contribution to re-establishing peace and stability in Somalia through deployment for AMISOM.”

She urged the African Union to urgently deploy other troops so that Ethiopian forces pull out. “Countries are hesitant to deploy because of the violence. (It) makes countries rightly think twice about sending their forces there, but we are prepared to support anyone prepared to deploy.”

The US Congress recently approved $40m for the peace keeping mission. Fraser said $2m was available for immediate deployment of other forces from Burundi.

She welcomed the conclusion of a six-week reconciliation conference in Mogadishu, which critics say produced nothing but optimistic resolutions. “It was part of a process. The success of Somalia will be a process that includes further dialogue,” she added.

Earlier, the US Assistant Secretary of State met President Yoweri Museveni at State House, Nakasero. During the meeting, the President called upon the DRC not to accept being used by groups that are hostile to neighbouring countries, according to a statement by State House.

“Museveni urged the DRC to apprehend the LRA on its territory to ensure that the group goes to the assembly areas in order to further facilitate the ongoing peace process in Juba,” the statement added.

He said he was optimistic the peace process between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army would succeed.

Source: New Vision

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