Ugandan officials and rebels sign 'permanent' cease-fire
JUBA, Sudan - Uganda's government and Lord's Resistance Army rebels signed a cease-fire agreement yesterday, a big step toward a final settlement to one of Africa's longest-running wars.
"It is the laying down of arms. It is the end of the war," UN envoy Joaquim Chissano said after the parties approved the "permanent" cease-fire during their fast-progressing talks in southern Sudan's capital, Juba.
With only a demobilization plan left to be agreed on, negotiators and mediators are predicting that a final accord will be reached this week to end one of the world's most macabre and least-understood conflicts.
After a tortuous process since talks began in mid-2006, the speed of progress in recent days has taken observers by surprise, particularly after the Lord's Resistance Army delegation walked out at one point last week in a quarrel over Cabinet jobs and cash.
The revolt against President Yoweri Museveni since 1986 has devastated north Uganda, killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted nearly 2 million, and become infamous for the brutal methods of the rebels, including mutilating victims.
At yesterday's signing, presided over by chief mediator and south Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, rebel and government delegates embraced one another warmly. Both teams thumped tables in joy, as cries and whistles filled the hall.
The deal prohibits any recruitment or rearmament by the rebels, or movement beyond a temporary assembly area in south Sudan where they will remain before demobilization.
The cease-fire, formalizing a cessation of hostilities agreed upon in mid-2006, creates a 6-mile buffer zone around the rebels' assembly area, guarded by southern Sudanese troops.
All that remains to be decided is how the rebels should demobilize and disarm, which negotiators call a technicality that will be dealt with quickly.
Chissano, the former president of Mozambique, warned both sides not to fall at the final hurdle. "We must see clearly a way to complete peace," he said.
The Acholi population of north Uganda bore the brunt of the conflict. It suffered not only from rebel attacks and forced recruitment of children, but also from rape and other abuses by Uganda's military at refugee camps.
Violence has largely subsided during the peace talks, and some refugees have begun returning. But the trickle back to their old villages and homes could turn into a mass return once the final peace deal is signed, aid agencies say.
The fate of the rebels' self-styled mystic leader, Joseph Kony, remains uncertain. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but earlier this month both sides agreed that serious crimes during the war would be dealt with locally.
Analysts believe that satisfied Kony, and enabled the progress of recent days.
On Friday, the sides signed another agreement in which the government committed itself to give the north better representation in public offices and the armed forces.
The rebels cast their cause as a fight for the rights of northerners, who they said had been marginalized and oppressed by Museveni.
Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda said the permanent cease-fire was a "milestone" and the peace talks had reached a point of no return.
Kampala will ask the International Criminal Court to rescind its indictments of Kony, Rugunda said. 