uganda changing mind on peace talks

Museveni said he would give Kony until August to work for peace, but it appears that pressure from the ICC has gotten to him. The Ugandan government refused to meet with LRA leadership today in Juba, Sudan, the site of the peace talks arranged by the southern Sudanese government.

Okello Oryem, Uganda's junior foreign minister, passed the conflict and the LRA off as a "regional problem now - not a Uganda problem" and called for southern Sudan, the DRC and UN forces in Sudan to arrest Kony.

nutshell

So let's get this straight. First, Museveni says he won't negotiate with Kony. Then Kony says he wants peace, so Museveni gives him until August. The ICC says no way and that Museveni must arrest Kony and the rest of the LRA leadership. The U.S. jumps in and says we'll capture Kony by December. The regional government of Southern Sudan meets with Kony and Otti and gives the LRA $25,000, supposedly on the condition that they enter into peace negotiations (which the ICC has banned, remember?). Despite the pleas of religious leaders in northern Uganda to focus on peace, Interpol issued their own arrest warrants for Kony and five other LRA commanders, adding to the international pressure against negotiations. Meanwhile, the SPLA and Kony plan to start negotiations next week.

All clear?

In other news, Ugandan students have invented a pot refrigerator. If only that were as wonderful as it sounds.