NORTHERN UGANDA: JUBA PEACE TALKS RESUME, LRA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 000203

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2018
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV UG SU CG
SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA: JUBA PEACE TALKS RESUME, LRA
SORTS OUT INTERNAL ISSUES


Classified By: P/E Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (SBU) Summary: On January 30, the Lord's Resistance
Army's (LRA) negotiating team agreed to renew the Cessation
of Hostilities for another month and developed a timetable
for considering each of the remaining sections of the
agreement. In the days prior to the resumption of the talks,
a variety of sources indicated that LRA leader Joseph Kony
had no intention of surrendering and was looking for funds to
relocate and maintain his forces. Meanwhile, LRA members in
Garamba National Park reportedly live in fear, which has
raised the tension levels within the LRA camp. The LRA
negotiating team will travel to Garamba next week to discuss
an agreement on the implementing protocol for the
accountability and reconciliation agenda item. Closing the
gap between the LRA negotiating team at Juba and Kony in
Garamba National Park is essential to the process and
necessary to build the confidence necessary to successfully
conclude a peace deal. End Summary.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TALKS RESUME WITH TIMETABLE
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


2. (SBU) The Juba Peace Talks resumed on January 30. Senior
Advisor Tim Shortley attended and the U.S. and European Union
were named as official observers by mediator Riek Machar.
The Government of Uganda and the LRA agreed to extend the
Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CHA) to February 29. The
parties also came up with a timetable to consider the
remaining agenda items. The parties will meet together on
February 1 to discuss the implementing mechanism on
accountability and reconciliation. After coming to
agreement, the LRA hoped to travel to Garamba to discuss it
with Kony on/about February 4. If Kony concurs, then the
protocol could be signed during the week, according to Senior
Advisor Shortley. The other two agenda items, a cease-fire
and the disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation,
reintegration, and reinsertion pieces of the "Final Peace
Agreement" could be negotiated the following two weeks,
according to the timetable.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LRA MEMBERS TERRORIZED IN GARAMBA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


3. (C) Prior to the restart of the talks, a variety of
sources expressed concern about Kony's commitment to peace.
Yusuf Adek, one of LRA leader Joseph Kony's childhood
friends, met with Senior Advisor for Conflict Resolution
Shortley on January 26. Adek had been named recently to the
LRA's negotiating team and had just returned from Rikwangba
after meeting with Kony. Adek confirmed that Kony was set on
making money to "run his organization and run/relocate if
necessary." Adek said that Kony was not interested in
meeting or talking with anyone anymore and wanted to find a
safe place to go. Adek said that LRA members in Garamba
were terrorized and demoralized.


4. (C) The LRA negotiating team waited several days to see
Kony, from January 10 to 14. Caesar Acelam was sent from
Kony to the delegation with messages explaining Kony's
absence. When the team finally saw Kony, they walked over
eight miles to reach him. Acelam's role as messenger
intrigued our British colleagues, because of the information
throughout November and December that Acelam was backing the
defections. Acelam told LRA delegation members Santa Okot
and Yusuf Adek and Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team
(CHMT) member Dennis Okirot separately that he was under
duress. He was now again under a form of house arrest and
being kept close to Kony. They speculated that Kony knew
about Acelam's encouragement of the defections. Acelam asked
Santa Okot to help him. He told her that Kony was planning
to move to Central African Republic. Adek said that Acelam
did not believe he would survive. Acelam no longer has a
telephone.


5. (C) Other LRA negotiating team members and defectors
corroborate Adek's description of the fear within the LRA
camp inside Garamba. Recent defectors Captain Sunday Otto,
Vincent Okema, and Ojok Alex remain in communication with
friends in Garamba. Otto and Okema, who are working with the
Ugandan military and MONUC, are waiting to be re-inserted
into Garamba to assist 18-30 defectors waiting near Kiliwa.
They also told us on January 28 that Acelam was under close
watch and that most of the LRA remaining in Garamba, with the
exception of the hard-core inner ring around Kony, feared

KAMPALA 00000203 002 OF 002


being killed like Otti, and wanted to escape.

- - - - - - - -
LRA DELEGATION
- - - - - - - -


6. (C) Several contacts reminded us that newly-named LRA
delegation leader David Matsanga was from eastern Uganda. As
a result, he would not have the confidence of northern
religious and local leaders. Matsanga was afraid to go to
Rikwangba and stayed behind in Juba. Kony informed him by
telephone that he would replace Martin Ojul at the head of
the delegation. The LRA consultation with 300 or so Ugandans
was placed on hold, according to GOSS Secretariat personnel.

- - - -
PLAN B
- - - -


7. (C) Ugandan People's Defense Forces Chief of Defense
Forces General Aronda believes the new delegation was playing
for time for Kony, who has spread out his forces. He stated
to P/E Chief and Shortley that Matsanga would not sign an
agreement quickly. Aronda said that there was no progress
made with Congo regarding joint operations agains the LRA at
the Chiefs of Defense Forces meeting of Tripartite countries
on January 27 and 28. He blamed competing communiques and
multilateral and bilateral summits for taking the focus off
dealing with the negative forces in the region.
Surprisingly, Aronda was not confident that a military
operation would necessarily resolve the LRA problem. Aronda
asserted that Matsanga and Kony want money from Government of
Southern Sudan mediator, Riek Machar to enable Kony to find a
safe place for his group.

- - - -
COMMENT
- - - -


8. (C) The GOU, the African observers, and Machar believe
that if enough momentum is generated in the Juba process, it
could help bridge the gap between Kony and his negotiating
team. In addition, compressing the timetable would keep the
LRA focused on the agenda, rather than personal perks.
Getting Kony to articulate what he needs out of the agreement
to be secure remains a key objective of the current exercise
and essential to achieving a final peace agreement.
CHRITTON