VZCZCXRO6689
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #0630/01 1061046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161046Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8584
INFO RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0569
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHTO/AMEMBASSY MAPUTO 0396
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 3219

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 000630 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL MOPS UG SU
SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA: LRA TALKS TO RESUME APRIL 23 
 
REF: KAMPALA 448 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request.  See paragraph 10 for proposed 
press guidance. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary:  Negotiations between the Government of Uganda 
and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are set to resume in Juba, 
Southern Sudan on April 26.  The two parties agreed to extend the 
Cessation of Hostilities Agreement to June 30 and that LRA remaining 
in southern Sudan and northern Uganda could assemble at Rikwangba. 
The resumption of the talks is a positive development, for which 
U.N. Special Envoy Chissano has requested support from the 
international community.  End Summary. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On April 15, U.N. Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas 
Joacquim Chissano briefed the diplomatic corps on the progress made 
in his meetings with the LRA.  During the April 13 and 14 meetings, 
Chissano described a perceptible change in the demeanor of the LRA 
leadership from his previous encounters with Joseph Kony and Vincent 
Otti in March.  In the past, the LRA leaders and fighters were all 
dressed in combat fatigues.  However, during these meetings the two 
leaders were dressed in matching suits and ties and other LRA 
members wore safari suits.  The LRA accepted the food Chissano 
brought along in sharp contrast with past encounters in which the 
LRA refused the offering for fear it was poisoned. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Kony opened the April 13 meeting with an outline of the 
reasons the LRA walked out of the talks.  Kony requested that the 
Ugandan military stop attacking the LRA and that the United Nations 
supervise the peace process.  He asked to be left alone with the 
Government of Uganda team to discuss the status of the International 
Criminal Court (ICC) indictments, renewal of the Cessation of 
Hostilities Agreement, and the way forward at the negotiations.  The 
GOU's lead negotiator Ruhakana Rugunda reiterated the Government's 
desire for peace and offered to facilitate the movement of the LRA 
to the assembly areas. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Chissano orchestrated a photograph of Kony and Rugunda 
shaking hands over their agreement that they wanted peace.  For 
Chissano, the symbolism of replicating his own handshake with RENAMO 
leaders in Rome years ago was important.  Chissano told the 
diplomatic corps that once such a commitment for peace was made, 
"all the rest is details."  Chissano and mediator Riek Machar also 
were able to hammer out agreement on festering issues such as food 
supply for the fighters as they assemble, allowances, and the number 
of delegates allowed at the negotiations.  It was agreed that the 
LRA delegates would receive 70 USD in per diem and 50 USD worth of 
satellite telephone airtime per day.  Initially it was agreed that 
each side would send 15 delegates to Juba, but Chissano later argued 
to increase the number of LRA allowed to 17 so that fighters could 
be included at the table.  Machar promised to assign better security 
to the LRA team in Juba to alleviate their complaints about alleged 
unfair treatment and abuse at the hands of the Sudan Peoples' 
Liberation Army soldiers. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The GOU and LRA agreed to extend the Cessation of 
Hostilities Agreement to June 30.  LRA members in southern Sudan and 
northern Uganda would be allowed to cross the Nile River to assemble 
at Rikwangba.  The GOU had offered to transport the LRA to the 
assembly area, but the LRA refused, preferring that its members 
travel on foot.  Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa would 
each provide two observers for the negotiations.  The Democratic 
Republic of Congo did not send a representative with the team on 
this visit because the previous individual had been replaced. 
Liaison officers would be posted to a town close to the assembly 
area to facilitate the movement of LRA fighters and subsequent 
communication between Rikwangba and Juba. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Chissano stated that he believed that the LRA was much 
more serious than during his previous meetings.  Members of the GOU 
negotiating team also were pleased with the outcome of the meetings. 
 Felix Kulayigye, the Ugandan Peoples' Defense Forces' member of the 
negotiating team, told emboffs that Kony and Otti had become 
confused over whether or not the indictments could be lifted.  In 
meetings and telephone calls from the LRA delegation, Kony and Otti 
may have been told that the ICC indictments could be dropped.  Owiny 
Dollo, the GOU's lawyer, explained to them the GOU's constraints and 
options regarding the ICC.  Kulayigye said that Dollo appeared to 
have convinced Kony and Otti that a peace deal maximized the options 
of all parties.  Chissano emphasized to the indicted LRA leadership 
that the best way forward on the indictments was for a peace deal to 
be concluded that would bring lasting peace to northern Uganda.  The 
international community would then have to weigh the benefits of 
peace relative to international forms of justice.  Chissano also 
told the LRA that solutions to the political problems raised during 
the negotiations must be dealt with in Uganda by Ugandans, not at 
Juba. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) In addition to the Cessation of Hostilities agreement, a 
 
KAMPALA 00000630  002 OF 002 
 
 
communique was signed.  A draft of the communique released as was an 
April 11 press statement by Pax Christi, a Netherlands-based 
non-governmental organization.  The press statement touted 
"significant agreements" reached between the LRA's Juba delegates 
and President Museveni's brother, Salim Saleh, in Mombasa. 
According to GOU sources, however, Saleh went to Mobasa to listen to 
the LRA delegation but did not agree to anything.  Kony and Otti 
also were surprised by the Pax Christi release, which they had not 
seen.  Chissano was not pleased with Pax Christi's intervention. 
According to Kulayigye, nor Pax Christi and San Egidio would be 
welcome to Juba. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment: The resumption of the peace talks is a welcome 
development and Special Envoy Chissano requested that the assembled 
members of the diplomatic corps show support for the Juba process. 
We are encouraged by this development and the apparent seriousness 
on the part of the LRA, but remain cautious that the devil may be in 
the details as the parties thrash out the next agenda item on 
accountability mechanisms.  A final agreement must also contain an 
acceptable solution to ensure the security of Kony, Otti, the other 
indictees, and the fighters.  End comment. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Proposed press release: To respond to Chissano's request 
for support and to support the GOU's efforts, post recommends the 
Department release a press statement.  "The United States Government 
welcomes the agreement between the Government of Uganda and Lord's 
Resistance Army to resume peace talks on April 26 in Juba, Southern 
Sudan to extend the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.  We 
appreciate the efforts of the U.N. Special Envoy and the mediator to 
resolve outstanding issues that had been obstacles to the process. 
A durable peace agreement that puts an end to the 21-year old 
conflict and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of displaced 
northern Ugandans is vital to the region and the future of Uganda." 
 
BROWNING