ugnet_: Uganda Blames Army for Massacre by Rebels

[Matekopoko]

Uganda Blames Army for Massacre by Rebels

By GEOFFREY MULEME
.c The Associated Press

LIRA, Uganda (AP) - A somber President Yoweri Museveni apologized Tuesday and blamed the army for failing to prevent the weekend rebel attack on a refugee camp in northern Uganda that killed scores of people.

Residents expressed little faith in the government's ability to end the 17-year insurgency, which has claimed thousands of lives and spread fear throughout northern Uganda.

``I want this war to end, but I do not understand what is happening,'' said gas station manager Charles Abong. ``Thousands of people have been killed ... and the army is not helping us fight the rebels.''

``We thought Museveni was going to help us but he has also failed,'' he said

Museveni accused the army of negligence for allowing Saturday's attack, in which rebels of the shadowy Lord's Resistance Army hacked, shot and burned alive unarmed civilians.

``It's very sad, on behalf of the government, or the army, I apologize to the people because the mistake is on the side of the army,'' Museveni said after visiting a hospital packed with survivors. ``They (the army) did not coordinate well but we have got a long struggle, we shall overcome.''

Museveni put the death toll at 84, but local officials have said more than 200 people were killed.

Defense Minister Amama Mbabazi later told Parliament the bodies would be exhumed and the death toll confirmed.

He said his ministry ``acknowledged that there are internal weaknesses'' in the army which were being addressed.

Charles Angiro, a parliament member representing the region, said another 33 corpses were discovered late Monday in a cassava patch a few hundred yards from the camp. It was not clear if they were included in the death toll.

He and other local officials accuse the army of playing down the violence.

Museveni, who led his own bush war before seizing power in 1986, recalled the region's commander to army headquarters for further training. In a statement to the government-owned New Vision newspaper, he said the army should never have allowed the camp to be set up, saying it was insufficiently protected.

``Even if it were only one person who died, it would not be an excuse. No single Ugandan deserves to die at the hands of the bandits,'' Museveni said in the statement.

The camp, which was home to about 5,000 people north of Lira, was guarded by about 30 members of a local defense unit, who were outgunned and overpowered. Museveni said they also failed to alert nearby troops.

The army, which has 20,000 troops in northern Uganda, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, has been searching the countryside for the insurgents.

The attack has raised questions about the government's claims that it is defeating the Lord's Resistance Army, which is led by Joseph Kony, who claims to have spiritual powers.

The group has abducted thousands of children to use as fighters and sex slaves. Estimates of its size vary from hundreds to a few thousand.

In 2002, aid agencies estimated the conflict had killed more than 23,000 people and cost the East African nation $1.3 billion.

``I want the war to end because it's making us lose a lot of business. Villagers have fled their homes and cannot grow crops. If soldiers are deployed in the villages where the rebels come from, it would stop them causing problems,'' said Juliet Acio, a saleswoman in Lira, 155 miles north of the capital, Kampala.

While driving through the region Tuesday, Museveni stopped to speak to peasant farmers who had left a nearby camp to gather cassava. Villagers told him they felt insecure because of the rebels.

Dressed in combat fatigues and protected by scores of soldiers, Museveni replied he would set up a base in Okwang, about 30 miles northeast of Lira, ``to help you chase the bandits away from the area.''

Museveni has made similar trips to the north to oversee military operations, but the attacks continue. More than 1 million people in northern and eastern Uganda have been forced from their homes.



02/24/04 14:39 EST
   

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