Africa
Uganda, LRA rebels to open talks on child soldiers
By
Jul 3, 2007 - 5:03:11 PM

by Geofrey Maganda
Garowe Online staff reporter

KAMPALA, Uganda July 3 (Garowe Online) - Ugandan rebels have agreed to open talks with the country's government over the fate of thousands of children kidnapped over the last 20 year, officials say.

This development follows an agreement on accountability and reconciliation the Ugandan government recently signed with the Lord's Resistance Army. The two parties are currently engaged in peace negotiations in the southern Sudanese city of Juba.

Captain Bahoku Barigye, spokesman for the government's negotiating team, confirmed that negotiators would soon open discussions with the LRA about the abducted children, and that the government would argue for their release.

The LRA team affirmed his claim. The idea of talks on abducted children should not be cause for "alarm," according to LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayo.

"The issue of abducted children will be thoroughly discussed soon. We will get a solution," he said.

There were concerns when the rebels' deputy commander Vincent Otti recently stated that the women and children in the LRA's custody would not be released as called for by various human rights organizations

Otti said the women and children would only come out of the bush with other LRA rebels if a final peace deal is signed.

More than 30,000 children were abducted and recruited into the LRA between 1986 and April 2006, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The LRA's 20-year armed struggle against the Ugandan government has led to thousands of deaths and more than 1.2 million people displaced into refugee camps, especially along the country's northern region.

Source: Garowe Online