Wanted Ugandan rebel leader surrenders

Kampala, January 7: The Ugandan military on Wednesday confirmed that a top commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) wanted for war crimes has surrendered. Paddy Ankunda, the Ugandan army spokesman, told Xinhua in an interview that Dominic Ongwen, wanted by the Intertiol Crimil Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity surrendered in the Central African Republic (CAR). “It is a huge success in the anti–LRA campaign,” Ankunda said. Gen. Katumba Wamala, Chief of Defense Forces of the Ugandan military, earlier told Xinhua that he had not yet gotten the full details of Ongwen’s surrender. Ongwen, one of the top commanders of the LRA, surrendered Monday to Ugandan and US troops hunting down the rebel outfit in the jungles of the CAR and northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “The surrender of Ongwen is a major blow to the LRA. Ongwen has been one of Joseph Kony’s top proteges, rising in the ranks since 1990, when he was abducted as a child soldier at the age of 10,” said Casper Agger, Enough Project expert and Uganda–based field researcher. “As part of the LRA core command, his surrender is a very significant step in the efforts to bring a fil end to the LRA,” he added.  (IANS)