VZCZCXRO2380
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #0059 0151246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151246Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9875
INFO RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0684
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHTO/AMEMBASSY MAPUTO 0470
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 3417

UNCLAS KAMPALA 000059 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL MOPS UG SU CG
SUBJECT:  NORTHERN UGANDA: PEACE PROCESS UPDATE 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) 
delegation plan to meet leader Joseph Kony from January 15-17 to 
present the outcome of the consultations held in Uganda.  The 
logistical and financial preparations for the planned larger meeting 
of 300 Ugandans with Kony have been stalled and remain in question, 
which could further delay the restart of the Juba talks.  Government 
of Southern Sudan Vice President Machar met with the Cessation of 
Hostilities Monitoring Team (CHMT) over the non-payment of their 
allowances since November, and the use of U.S.-donated vehicles. 
U.N. Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas Joachim Chissano has 
delayed his trip to the region.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) delegation plans to travel 
to Rikwangba assembly area from January 15 to 17.  The delegation 
plans to present the results of its November-December 2007 
consultations in Uganda to LRA leader Joseph Kony.  It is not clear 
if the logistical arrangements for the meeting with Kony have 
solidified.  The LRA still plans to hold a large consultative 
meeting between Kony and about 300 Ugandans, primarily from the 
north.  The dates for the meeting continue to be pushed back becausQ 
of a lack of logistical and financial support.  Members of the 
Government of Southern Sudan Secretariat for the talks have been on 
vacation and approvals for funding stopped over the holidays.  The 
LRA had wanted to hold the wider consultation on January 18, but 
discussions with various LRA delegation members, the Cessation of 
Hostilities Monitoring Team (CHMT), and northern leaders indicate 
that preparations were chaotic and no firm arrangements or dates had 
been set. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Members of the CHMT met with Government of Southern Sudan 
Vice President and mediator for the Juba Talks, Riek Machar, on 
January 12.  The CHMT told Machar that its members had not been paid 
their allowances for November, December, or January and had spent 
Christmas in Juba without any transportation or financial means. 
Machar apologized to the team, explaining that GOSS Secretariat 
members had been on vacation. The CHMT also raised concerns that the 
four U.S.-donated trucks were sitting at Sudan Peoples' Liberation 
Army (SPLA) headquarters with SPLA license plates on them and were 
not with the CHMT.  Two different CHMT members told P/E Chief that 
they doubt that there will be follow-up on their allowances or the 
disposition of the U.S. trucks.  P/E Chief raised the issue of the 
allowances with Canadian consul in Kampala, Bryan Burton. Burton 
promised to look into the issue, as Canada was one of the donors to 
the Juba Initiative Fund. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In a telephone call to Gulu District Chairman Norbert Mao, 
Kony "admitted" that he had made a big mistake in killing his 
deputy, Vincent Otti.  He told Mao that he would explain the 
circumstances at the consultation at Rikwangba.  Kony worried over 
what he described as U.S. pressure on Nigerian President Olusegun 
Obasanjo to hand over Charles Taylor to the Special Tribunal on 
Sierra Leone, and U.S. involvement in Saddam Hussein's hanging. 
Kony also complained about the looming January 31 deadline. Mao 
asked Kony what it would take for him to accept a peace deal.  Kony 
did not have an answer, but Mao felt he made some progress with the 
LRA leader in terms of getting him to focus on the elements of a 
deal rather than the January 31 deadline, which President Museveni 
said was flexible if there were irreversible progress at the talks. 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Meanwhile, Gulu Resident District Commissioner, Walter 
Ochora, and Col. Charles Otema, Director, Special Operations, 
Ugandan Peoples' Defense Forces (UPDF) warned that the Government of 
Uganda could not guarantee security for northerners traveling to 
Rikwangba for the consultations.  Ochora told P/E Chief and DATT on 
January 8 that he had serious concerns about Kony's mental state and 
worried that he might do something unpredictable at the gathering. 
Ochora and Otema do not believe Kony is interested in a peaceful end 
to the conflict.  They believe that Kony will need to be under 
significant military pressure in order to agree to a deal; even 
then, the prospects for a lasting agreement would be elusive. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comment:  The Juba peace process is off to a rough start 
after the holidays.  We expect U.N. Special Envoy Joachim Chissano's 
visit to the region, now delayed a week, might lend some clarity on 
the timeline for the talks to resume.  He also will likely remind 
the LRA that there is some flexibility in the deadline as long as 
there is progress at the negotiations.  End Comment. 
CHRITTON