Cease-Fire Takes Effect in Ugandan Rebel War

A cease-fire went into effect Tuesday between Uganda’s government and a rebel movement that terrorized the nation for nearly two decades.

The truce signed Saturday is aimed at ending the war between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army, notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of civilians, enslaving thousands of children and driving about 2 million people from their homes.

“From today, troops can only shoot in defense of civilians,” Army Maj. Felix Kulaije said.

Under the truce, rebels have three weeks to gather at two assembly points in largely uninhabited areas in southern Sudan, where they will be protected and monitored.

Chris Magezi, a Ugandan army spokesman, said he did not expect an immediate mass movement of rebel fighters.

“The LRA do not have the confidence to move openly, so they will probably go secretively in groups on foot,” he said.

If the cease-fire holds, it will be a major breakthrough in the war-torn region of northern Uganda, eastern Congo and southern Sudan. Rebels from the three nations operated across borders for decades until a peace accord halted Congo’s civil war in 2003 and southern Sudanese rebels joined Sudan’s government in 2005.

The truce does not include details on disarming the rebels or integrating them into Ugandan society. Those terms will be part of a final accord to be negotiated in Juba, Sudan, with leaders of Sudan’s southern region serving as mediators.

Teams of Ugandan officials, rebels and African Union-appointed military officers will monitor the truce.