KAMPALA, Apr 3, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Joseph Kony, commander of Uganda' s rebel Lord's Resistance Army ( LRA), has failed in seeking allies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, local newspaper reported Monday.
The Congolese Revolution Movement (MRC) rebels, which described itself as "a pro-people group with a cause," has refused to cooperate with LRA, which has long operated from hideouts across the border in southern Sudan and established bases in the jungles of neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo last year, said the report.
MRC said on Sunday that an LRA officer, who identified himself as Shaban, telephoned MRC's chief of staff Mathieu Gunjolo, asking for cooperation.
"LRA is asking for our troops to merge in exchange for arms and ammunition. They (LRA) are also worried that MRC is still sympathetic to Uganda and asking us not to have anything to do with Uganda," said Justin Lobho, MRC's spokesman.
"We cannot ally with a terrorist group like LRA which has no cause for its war," said the spokesman.
The Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) have been put on high alert since Kony left his hideout in southern Sudan to join his deputy Vincent Otti in eastern D.R. Congo.
The UPDF said Kony had ordered his chiefs in Sudan and Uganda to gather his fighters and bring them to Congo.
"Kony has also ordered for unearthing of arms buried in various areas in Sudan," said UPDF's northern region spokesman Chris Magezi.