Alfred Wasike
21 September 2005
Kampala — UGANDA is to demand for the immediate extradition of rebel leader Joseph Kony and the remnants of his Lord's Resistance Army who recently crossed from Sudan into the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Yoweri Museveni said this yesterday while meeting two former US ambassadors to Uganda, Nancy Powell and Johnny Carson, at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington DC yesterday.
Museveni is on a working visit to the US where he attended and addressed the 60th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Sixty fighters led by Kony's number two, Vincent Otti, recently fled northern Uganda and southern Sudan and crossed the White Nile in Sudan for the first time. They attacked vehicles on the recently-opened Yei-Juba road before crossing into the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) said the rebels were hiding in Garamba game park in the DRC.
Museveni told Powell and Carson that, "This issue of terrorism from Sudan is finished. We shall demand that the UN forces in Sudan take action. They (rebels) should be extradited to Uganda or be handed over to the International Criminal Court."
He said the rebels were flushed out of their bases in Sudan by the UPDF.
He expressed concern that DRC had failed to create a strong army to control its territory. "Because of this, the eastern part of Congo has become a threat to the region," he said.
He said he would introduce income-generating activities for internally displaced people in the north.
"It was a mistake on our part not to introduce income-generating activities. The internally displaced people could grow crops but we concentrated on the issue of terrorism and left the IDP camps to NGOs and the World Food Programme," he said.
On AIDS, Museveni clarified that he supports both abstinence and condoms. He, however, said condoms should be left to prostitutes, discordant couples and long-distance truck drivers.
"How can they deny prostitutes condoms and truck drivers who sleep in lodges?" he asked.
He noted that because of his emphasis on abstinence, AIDS prevalence was lower among the youth. Powell and Carson hailed Museveni for his contribution to Uganda, particularly his crusade against HIV/AIDS.
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