SECRETARY-GENERAL PLEASED WITH UGANDAN PARTIES’ READINESS TO EXTEND AGREEMENT

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

In keeping with his mandate to encourage the peace process in northern Uganda, Joaquim Chissano, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Lord’s Resistance Army-affected areas, has been in the region since late last month carrying on consultations with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leadership and northern Ugandan parties, as well as with concerned regional countries.  Yesterday, he chaired a meeting in Ri-Kwangba, Southern Sudan, with the main parties and participants to the Juba Peace Initiative.

The Secretary-General is pleased that all parties in attendance, including LRA leader Joseph Kony, reiterated their commitment to peace and stated their readiness to extend the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement to which they are currently bound.  The Secretary-General hopes that the discussions begun yesterday can lead in the near future to a resumption of the Juba peace talks, as those who have taken part in this conflict bear a responsibility to end the suffering in northern Uganda.

The Secretary-General looks forward to further discussions on the situation of the LRA-affected areas when his Special Envoy visits New York later this month to brief the Security Council.

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For information media • not an official record