NORTHERN UGANDA: ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO MEET KONY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 000555 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL MOPS UG SU CG CT SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA: ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO MEET KONY KAMPALA 00000555 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) negotiators and northern elders will attempt to meet with LRA leader Joseph Kony on May 10. According to the LRA delegation's reported new leader, James Obita, large crowds and likely international pressure scared Kony off on April 10. The LRA delegation will attend a gathering of legal experts to understand the national justice framework that would be set up before going to Rikwangba with northern elders. Obita said Kony should explain why the LRA had abducted children in Central African Republic (CAR),the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),and southern Sudan. He also raised the issue of personal, financial, and security guarantees for Kony and his High Command. End Summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MAY 10 MEETING WITH ELDERS, LRA TEAM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) Dr. James Obita, who claims he is the new leader of the LRA negotiating team, told P/E Chief on April 20 that he had spoken to Kony a day earlier. Obita and delegation member Santo Okot were in Kampala after escorting Kony's sister and a wife from Nabanga, near the Rikwangba assembly area. (Note: This wife is a former abductee, who is now a secondary school student in Gulu. End Note.) Both Obita and Okot separately gave P/E Chief the same version of Kony's conversation. The wife "let Kony have it" and berated him for not showing up at Rikwangba. She said that he had alienated all of the northerners. She also reportedly complained about waiting in cramped and squalid conditions at Nabanga. She allegedly told Kony that he was going to die in the bush if he did not work with Government of Southern Sudan mediator Riek Machar and U.N. Special Envoy Joachim Chissano. She said Kony's only way out was to sign the agreement. Kony allegedly told her that she had only suffered a few days waiting at Nabanga, while he was suffering badly in the heavy rains. At the end of the conversation, Kony reportedly agreed to meet the northern elders. ¶3. (SBU) According to Obita, Kony needed an explanation of why he should face three forms of justice: mato oput, Special Division of the High Court, and the International Criminal Court. Obita told P/E Chief that Kony's questions illustrate his lack of understanding of the agreement. Okot said that Kony rejected Machar's proposed meeting date of April 26. (Note: The LRA leader fears being trapped and views dates set by others with deep suspicion. End Note.) Kony also does not understand the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process and what it means for his fighters, according to Obita. ¶4. (U) Minister of Internal Affairs Ruhakana Rugunda confirmed a meeting of legal experts will take place in Kampala from May 6-8 to discuss the Special Division of the High Court and other requirements for the agreement's legal framework. Obita and other LRA delegates will attend before taking northern elders and religious and traditional leaders to Rikwangba to see Kony. ¶5. (SBU) Obita said the May 10 meeting will be exclusively the LRA delegates and northern leaders. He stated that the "jamboree" that developed around the April 10 signing date scared off Kony, who believed he was coming to meet northern leaders. Kony reportedly felt the large gathering of international observers, diplomats, and journalists was intended to pressure him into signing an agreement he had not yet seen, according to Obita. He expected that there would be an attempt by Riek Machar also to meet Kony in early May. ¶6. (SBU) Rugunda, told P/E on April 20 that he was skeptical of anyone who claimed to have spoken to Kony. Nonetheless, the Government supported Obita's attempt to explain the agreement to Kony by northern elders and the Acholi members of the LRA delegation. Rugunda agreed with Obita that the May 10 meeting should be kept between Kony, his team, and the elders. If Kony agreed to sign, another date could be arranged, according to Rugunda. However, he was not optimistic that Kony would sign the agreement. - - - - - - - - OBITA INTERVIEW - - - - - - - - ¶7. (U) Obita gave an interview on April 14, which appeared in the Sunday Monitor on April 20. Obita was asked about the reports that the LRA was moving to Central African Republic (CAR) and the group's continued abduction of children. Obita replied, "I am not the best person to explain this; it is Joseph (Kony) who should be explaining why his troops went to CAR. For instance, in the last three months, about 55 youth (30 boys and 25 girls) are missing from the southern Sudanese state of Western Equatoria from Tumbura, Ezo, and Yambio. KAMPALA 00000555 002.2 OF 002 I wonder why they continue to abduct children from Congo, CAR, and Sudan, which is mediating and continue to say they are committed to peace." ¶8. (U) The other key issue Obita touched upon was personal security guarantees for Kony. Obita said that "I know he wants personal and financial and security guarantees but I don't know how much he wants. And even if I did, those are private negotiations." - - - - COMMENT - - - - ¶9. (SBU) Expectations are likely to once again build over the May 10 meeting of Kony and the elders. While Obita, Okot, and other Acholi members of the LRA negotiating team claim to have direct contact with Kony, they have yet to demonstrate that they have any influence over him. Kony's personal and financial security is likely key to his decision to exit from the bush, but to date he has not reached out to discuss those issues. BROWNING