African armies move against Ugandan rebels

Nairobi/Kampala (Uganda), Dec 15 (DPA) Uganda, Congo and South Sudan have attacked the base of Ugandan rebels holed up in the jungles of eastern Congo, military officials said Monday.

Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), failed to turn up to sign a peace agreement Nov 29.

He has repeatedly stalled on signing a final agreement and it now appears that patience with him has run out.

A joint statement from the three armies said that Kony's main camp in the Garamba region of Congo had been attacked over the weekend and burned down.

Peace negotiations began mid-2006 between the government and the LRA, but the rebels are hesitant to sign the final peace treaty.

They say that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should first withdraw arrest warrants it issued in 2005 for five rebel leaders, including Kony, for crimes against humanity.

The court in The Hague wants the guerrilla commanders to be tried for rape, murder, abductions, torture and conscription of children.

The rebels want Museveni to get the ICC to drop the warrants.

The rebellion has left thousands of civilians dead, mutilated and tens of thousands of children abducted by the LRA who forced them to fight and commit atrocities.

Nearly two million civilians have been displaced from their homes by the conflict.