VZCZCXRO4041
OO RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1359/01 2731524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291524Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0747
INFO RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0740
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 001359 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL MOPS UG SU
SUBJECT:  NORTHERN UGANDA:  LRA LEADER ELUSIVE, ATTACKS IN DRC 
 
REF:  KAMPALA 1310 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony 
did not show up for another meeting that he requested with northern 
Ugandan religious and traditional leaders on September 17.  The 
Ugandan Government was not surprised at the turn of events.  Given 
that Kony often reaches out to northern traditional leaders for help 
when he is in trouble, Ugandan officials believe that his call to 
the Acholi Paramount Chief, Rwot Acana, was the result of increased 
military pressure on the LRA in the Democratic Republic of Congo 
(DRC).  There were reports of increased Congolese military and U.N. 
Mission to Congo (MONUC) activities in the area around Dungu, where 
LRA attacks occurred on September 4-5.  Kony continues to maintain 
that the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants be removed 
before he signs the Final Peace Agreement (FPA).  Kony's latest 
failure to attend a meeting that he requested and the continued LRA 
attacks in DRC have convinced even the most sympathetic of 
northerners that he has no intention of signing a peace deal.  End 
Summary. 
 
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CONGOLESE VILLAGERS RETALIATE AGAINST LRA IN DRC 
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¶2.  (SBU) On September 4 and 5, ten LRA members ambushed and 
kidnapped a group of 16 Congolese villagers on their way to a market 
along the Dungu/Firaz/Isoro Road, according to MONUC.  The villagers 
were from Dimba.  The LRA members raped the women, one of whom was 
the wife of the village chief.  The villagers, armed with bows and 
arrows, went after the ten LRA perpetrators.  The LRA shot and 
killed two villagers and wounded three.  The villagers caught and 
lynched two of the LRA.  The others escaped and ran back to Kony's 
camp and informed him about the retaliation by the local residents. 
The chiefs of neighboring villages reportedly alerted Congolese 
military units which were deployed in the area.  In addition, MONUC 
began moving around in the area on/about September 7 and 8.  Kony 
allegedly has become concerned about recent local press reports 
about the augmentation of MONUC at Dungu. 
 
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ANOTHER KONY NO-SHOW ANGERS NORTHERN LEADERS 
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¶3.  (SBU) Kony called the Acholi Paramount Chief, Rwot Acana, and 
other former LRA delegation members on September 11.  Santa Okot, a 
former LRA delegation leader, who was in on the conference call, 
told P/E Chief that Kony was "frantic" and kept them on the line for 
two hours.  Kony told Acana that he wanted a meeting with the 
northern leaders as soon as possible.  As a result, several excited 
leaders convinced Warner Ten Kate, the director of the U.N. Special 
Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas office in Kampala, to go to Juba for 
onward travel to Rikwangba and a meeting with Kony.  The group 
arrived in Juba on September 17 to see Government of Southern Sudan 
mediator Riek Machar in order to make arrangements to meet Kony. 
However, as soon as the group arrived in Juba, the entire LRA 
leadership became unreachable, switching off all of their satellite 
telephones. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The northern leaders were disappointed that Kony did not 
show up and had cut off all communications.  Kony's actions also 
dampened the hopes of some of his back-channel contacts, with whom 
DCM and Deputy USAID Director met with on September 22 in Gulu. 
Meanwhile, Kony has remained consistent in his position that he will 
not/not lay down his arms until the International Criminal Court 
(ICC) warrants are lifted.  Kony's chief negotiator, David Matsanga, 
who also went to Juba, said that Kony wants documentation that the 
warrants are lifted before coming in from the bush. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Machar and the northern leaders took the opportunity to 
"meet" about "general issues surround the signing of the FPA." 
Machar then released a face-saving communique stating that the FPA 
must be signed as soon as possible as it is.  Any clarifications 
could be worked out through the mechanisms in the FPA.  He suggested 
that a team of fifteen people drawn from the conflict-affected areas 
led by Acana be facilitated -- by donors -- in the future if needed. 
 (Note:  Machar continues to seek funds from Kampala-based donors, 
who have informed him that funds will only be available on a 
case-by-case basis.  U.N. Envoy Chissano stated that Kony must show 
up in Rikwangba before his requests for a meeting would be taken 
seriously.  End note.) 
 
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MORE LRA ATTACKS IN DRC, SOUTHERN SUDAN 
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¶6.  (SBU) There were several additional LRA attacks and abductions 
in Kiliwe, Duru, and Dungu, DRC, between September 17 and 20, 
according to press reports.  Up to 90 school children were abducted 
from the Duru Institute and Kiliwa Primary School and a local chief 
 
KAMPALA 00001359  002 OF 002 
 
 
and his son were killed.  Minister of Internal Affairs Ruhakana 
Rugunda said that eight Congolese were killed in the attacks. 
Catholic missionaries report that the LRA looted, abducted, and 
burned down buildings.  MONUC confirmed the attacks and both MONUC 
and the Congolese military reportedly began deploying in the area. 
Public demonstrations in Dungu have put pressure on the Government 
of DRC to take action against the LRA.  During the same time period, 
approximately 100 LRA attacked a Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army 
(SPLA) base at Sakure, southern Sudan, killing one soldier and 
mutilating four children.  Uganda military forces are on alert to 
protect the Ugandan border, according to UPDF Spokesman Major Paddy 
Ankunda. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7.  (SBU) Kony's actions continue to demonstrate that he is not 
interested in a peaceful resolution to the northern Ugandan 
conflict.  His failure to sign the FPA and attacks on Congolese 
villages contradict the terms set by the Congolese Government for 
the LRA to remain in Garamba National Park during negotiations, 
which included an understanding that the LRA would not disturb local 
populations.  Ugandan officials hope that recent LRA activities will 
convince Sudan and DRC to take joint action against the LRA. 
 
HOOVER