The peace talks initiated by South Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Ugandan government, coming after he was filmed handing over cash to the LRA, are off to a bad start:
Gunmen in southern Sudan have attacked the outskirts of the city of Juba, killing nine people.
Residents said the gunmen belonged to the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army who have been fighting for many years in northern Uganda.
The attack comes just after LRA leaders arrived in Juba having been invited by south Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar.
He has offered to mediate a peace agreement between the rebels and the Ugandan government.
But both Uganda and the International Criminal Court in the Hague have complained, saying that Sudan should arrest the LRA leaders as indicted war criminals.
Update: the LRA deny responsibility:
The Ugandan rebel group denied being involved in an attack on the outskirts of the south Sudanese capital Juba on Sunday night where nine people killed by gunmen.
In a press release issued Tuesday the Lord Resistance Army High Command denied “categorically any involvement” in Juba attack. The LRA said “none of our soldiers were anywhere near the reported area”
The attack occurred on Sunday 11 June at about 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) in the Gumba area on the east bank of the Nile and a few miles from the city centre. Nine people were wounded, including two children and five women.
The LRA accused the Ugandan government of attempting to undermine the South Sudan government peace initiative to bring peace in Uganda.
The rebel group “strongly believes that this is a characteristic and a cynical attempt by the Museveni’s dictatorship to sabotage the current peace initiative.” Ugandan army “has used such tactics before in Ugandan soils in order to torpedo previous peace processes”, the statement said.
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