KAMPALA- Any attack on Ugandan rebels based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be an invitation for the group to resume its war in northern Uganda, the fugitive Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) said yesterday.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila on Saturday signed an agreement under which DRC is set to flush out the LRA rebels from the country’s Garamba forest within 90 days.

LRA said the pact was in violated the spirit of the ongoing peace talks between Kampala and the Joseph Kony’s rebel group under the mediation of the government of Southern Sudan.

The LRA, whose leaders are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, terrorised northern Uganda for 20 years, before fleeing to DRC over a year ago.
On Tuesday, Uganda began closing camps for the 1.7 million people uprooted by the conflict.

"Any attack on our military positions …shall be strictly treated as a declaration of war, resumption of war and above all an invitation to bring war back to Uganda,” LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayoo told a news conference in Nairobi.

Ugandan government and military officials were not immediately available to comment, but in recent months they have questioned the LRA’s military capacity to resume hostilities.

Under the deal between Museveni and Kabila, the two countries will also review their borders and open embassies to boost diplomatic ties.

Meanwhile the ICC could lose interest in prosecuting leaders of the LRA, Uganda government officials have said.

Recently, Uganda’s State Minister for Defence Minister, Ruth Nankabirwa, Internal Affairs minister Ruhakana Rugunda and Principal State Attorney, Christopher Gashirabake, said that the ICC would lift the indictments against four top LRA leaders once Uganda proved capable of prosecuting the rebels for crimes against humanity.

The ICC previously said it would try the LRA chief, Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti and two others for crimes they have committed in the 20-yearold conflict. During consultations by the Uganda government seeking a compromise mechanism to address the issue of impunity, victims of the rebellion in northern and eastern regions – mostly affected by the conflict – suggested that the rebels be tried under a traditional judicial system.

"The ICC is just a complementary court to the local legal system,” Nankabirwa, said. She added that the international court would come in when the state fails to prosecute the rebels.

"We agreed with ICC that it would intervene when Uganda has proved it has ignored to prosecute the rebel leaders and have no institutions to try them.

But we have credible judges and the courts are in place. So the ICC will not come in,” Gashirabake who is also a government legal adviser on the peace team.

 "The ICC has its own mandate but also the people of the eastern and northern Uganda are airing out their constitutional right.

We will be able to meet the essential requirements of the victims and the international legal requirements,” Rugunda, the leader of the government negotiating team at the talks said.

Rugunda said the LRA would be tried under traditional justice for minor crimes and that the formal courts in Uganda would handle complicated crimes. He said MPs and members of the Judiciary were yet to be consulted on how best to handle legislation to ensure accountability and reconciliation.

"The intention is to update them on the Juba peace process and prepare them to handle legislations that may be necessary in order to ensure accountability and reconciliation. Consultations with the formal justice sector will also be held to solicit their views on necessary legislation that may be required,” Rugunda said.

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