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Uganda

Uganda: Peace team to meet rebels

KAMPALA, 12 March (IRIN) - The government peace team, led by Salim Saleh, was due to hold talks with commanders of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on Wednesday.
"We were in touch with some of their commanders, whose names I cannot tell you, but they have accepted to meet us at Koyo Lalogi or Wipolo in Pader district," Santa Okot, a member of parliament for Pader district, told IRIN.

On Monday, Saleh and other members of the peace team met a group of about 75 LRA rebels in Gulu, Okot said. The rebels were given a letter to be delivered to their leader, Joseph Kony. "They also promised to put all their agreements in writing to us," she added.

Reports indicate that northern Uganda is calm, with no abductions or clashes being reported since Monday when President Yoweri Museveni ordered a five-day ceasefire in Wipolo and Koyo Lalogi to allow peace negotiations to begin. The Ugandan army subsequently withdrew its forces from these areas.

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