UGANDAN government has reportedly suspended the hunt for fugitive warlord, Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army fighters, blaming hostility towards foreign troops by Central African Republic rebels who seized power last month.
About 100 U.S. special forces helping with intelligence and logistical support also called off operations temporarily, Reuters cited a U.S. embassy official as saying.
But it was not immediately clear if troops from other countries in the regional force were also giving up the search.
Senior Commander of the Lord’s Republican Army
Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. He and his commanders are accused of abducting thousands of children to use as fighters in a rebel army that earned a reputation for chopping off limbs as a form of discipline.
Uganda provides more than 3,000 troops of a 5,000-strong African Union force hunting Kony and his fighters, thought to be hiding in jungles straddling the borders of Central African Republic, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.
A separate coalition of rebels in Central African Republic, known as Seleka, toppled President Francois Bozize last month. They swept into the capital Bangui in a lightning offensive which triggered days of looting and drew international condemnation.
The Seleka rebels also killed 13 South African soldiers during their attack on Bangui.
“These rebels have been openly hostile to us and following that, the president (of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni) has ordered us only to be in defensive positions,” said Dick Olum, head of Ugandan troops in the force hunting Kony and also the overall force commander.
“So we’ve temporarily suspended offensive operations against the LRA for now until we receive further orders,” he told pressmen on Wednesday April 03, 2013.
Editor’s Note:
The last time somebody took on Kony’s case and tried to smear his name on a global basis, he turned a raving lunatic in less than four weeks after the smear:
Jason Russell founder of Get Kony campaign in full maddness following a curse Kony placed on him for telling lies:
The following poem is dedicated to the freedom fighters around who are fighting the good fight – a fight against tyranny and terrorism by parasitic invaders.
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
Sympathy
I KNOW what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals —I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting —I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings —I know why the caged bird sings!
Good one. We open a new thread for this poem. Thanks MikeHunt.
DJ