Kampala — OVER 23,000 former rebels have been pardoned, the Uganda Amnesty Commission has said. Ganyana Miiro, a commissioner, said on Wednesday the beneficiaries were with various rebel groups since 2000 when the Amnesty Commission was formed.

Miiro said the biggest challenge the commission had was how to resettle the former rebels in their communities.

"People need to be tolerant of those coming back to their communities. They need to accept that they need to co-exist," Miiro observed.

The commissioner was speaking at a function where Moses Musana, the chairman of Always Be Tolerant Organisation, handed over a peace flag to Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials to carry to the UN where Uganda is a member of the Security Council and currently holding its presidency.

Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa will travel to the UN headquarters in New York, United States to chair a meeting on "Post Conflict Peace Building." Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda's permanent representative to the UN, is the current chair of the security council.