Nairobi — Around 30 of the 40 seminarians kidnapped last month are still in the hands of the LRA rebels, Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, Archbishop of Kampala, has told Missionary News Service. The Cardinal appealed once again for their immediate release and called on the government to provide security for civilians and humanitarian aid "to all those in desperate need".

Cardinal Wamala praised the efforts of the Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative, an inter-religious group that is trying to broker peace between warring factions, but said: "the deterioration of the situation seems to have compromised every form of dialogue".

Children are the first victims of the war, he said. Many have been kidnapped and forced to join the army. "The persecution of civilians and the forced recruitment of children are sins against God" he concluded.