‘LRA Different From Al Qaeda’

KAMPALA – US ambassador to Uganda, Mr Jimmy Kolker, has said there are no parallels between LRA and Al Qaeda terrorist organisations. He was responding to a question in an interview with Irin that donors are urging the government to talk to Kony, yet America can’t do the same with Al Qaeda because that would amount to ‘appeasing terrorists’.

The interview was posted by Irin on Friday. Irin is a UN information agency. “[President Yoweri] Museveni would probably say the same thing about the LRA. But the situation isn’t parallel. For one thing, these are Ugandans who are perpetuating this crisis, committing atrocities against other Ugandans.

Secondly, the nature of the terrorism is an ongoing pattern, not a surprise act where you attack and then wait a few years. It has to stop and we must use every means at our disposal to make sure that it does,” he said.

Kolker said he is puzzled by government’s attack on the EU head of delegation, Mr Sigurd Illing, and warned that ultimately, there will be some form of discussions to end the war.

“We [the US] want to encourage conversations to end this war - that’s not to say negotiation, which would imply two equal parties coming together to bargain. But we certainly are trying to get in contact with the LRA to build confidence, most importantly to open a path for humanitarian access to the north. This isn’t something that’s going to happen tomorrow."

"Patience is a virtue in any such attempt.” The ambassador however makes it clear that they are not completely satisfied with government’s response to the war.

“The Barlonyo massacre [on February 21 in which the LRA killed over 300 civilians] certainly brought attention to the deficiencies in the protection the army is offering its citizens in the north, but there are also examples where the government has done better,” he said. “Let’s say the picture is mixed, but it’s not completely satisfactory.”

Kolker said the donors’ joint statement supporting the parliamentary resolution to declare the north a disaster area was to express solidarity with the victims of LRA brutality, and to recognise that the parliament resolution had unanimous support. He said that declaration of a disaster is routine in some countries: it allows a government to mobilise resources to cope with a crisis.

On the long running speculation over the extent of US military support to Uganda, the ambassador said that it is between $1.9 million to $2million; limited to trucks, army radios and training in civil military affairs and human rights.

“There have been some grotesquely exaggerated reports about this in the media. One journalist thought we spent US $200 million, which is nonsense,” Kolker said. “Another said we spent $80 million, which shows he was confused. That amount is what we are offering for strictly humanitarian assistance.”