'I Am Not a Terrorist,' Elusive Kony Says
Reuters
Thursday, May 25, 2006
NAIROBI, May 24 -- One of the most wanted rebel chiefs in the world, Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army, has called for an end to his 20-year war with the Ugandan government in the first images of him seen in years.
"Most people do not know me . . . I am not a terrorist. . . . I am a human being, I want peace also," Kony, a self-proclaimed mystic, said in a video obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.
Kony and his rebels have spread terror in northern Uganda and southern Sudan in a conflict that has left tens of thousands of civilians dead and displaced 2 million. The rebels often mutilate survivors by slicing off lips and ears.
The International Criminal Court named Kony and his deputies in warrants issued last year for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The video, verified by sources in Uganda, showed about an hour of a meeting three weeks ago between the rebel group and its sworn enemy in the past, the Southern People's Liberation Movement/Army, a former rebel group.
The video showed Kony taking $20,000 in cash from Riek Machar, the vice president of southern Sudan. "Buy food with it, not ammunition," Machar is heard telling Kony. Kony and Machar pledged to end fighting, and Machar said he was ready to mediate between the LRA and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.
"I want you to know that we, the LRA, want peace," Kony said. "That is why I was in the bush. . . . I am fighting for peace."
After the Kony-Machar meeting, news of which emerged about a week ago, Museveni issued a statement saying he would guarantee Kony's safety if he ended the war. He had previously written off any further negotiations with his longtime foe.
Responding to the footage, a spokeswoman for the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, referred to a statement that governments of the region were obliged to give effect to the arrest warrants. "And we are confident they will honor their joint commitment to do so," the statement said.
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