ICC: the LRA wants to negociate with Uganda

The strategic political-legal game between President Yoweri Museveni and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has resumed. On May 15, the independent Ugandan newspaper "The Monitor" revealed that Joseph Kony, head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who was indicted by the ICC along with four of his lieutenants, offered to enter into peace talks with Museveni. The paper also reported that Kony met with South-Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar last week in South Sudan allegedly to request asylum. Shortly thereafter, Betty Bigombe, head of the negotiations for the Ugandan government, confirmed to the Misna agency that "there was a meeting between the government of South Sudan and the LRA about commencing negotiations between this rebel group and the Ugandan authorities." The next day, the Ugandan president himself told Kony that he would ensure his safety if he ended the conflict before the end of July, apparently ignoring the international arrest warrant against Kony. "It's the government of Uganda that referred the situation to the ICC in December 2003; they are now under obligation and made a commitment," an ICC spokesperson told the BBC. On the US side, the American Under-Secretary for African Affairs said, according to The Monitor, that "it is a priority of President Bush to get rid of the LRA by the end of the year."