President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has again rejected pleas by religious leaders and some politicians for his government to hold peace talks with rebels fighting government troops in the north of the country.
Opening a new session of the Ugandan Parliament in Kampala on May 2, President Museveni compared the leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, to Satan. He said that he was not ready to "compromise with the devil.""Religious leaders and some politicians are asking me to compromise with Satan," he said. "But I do not think the victims of the devilish acts of Kony will forgive me if I agree to negotiate peace with these bandits."
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Kony, a former Catholic catechist, propagates a mixture of religion and witchcraft. The LRA claims it wants to overthrow the government and rule according to the Ten Commandments. The LRA has been widely accused of kidnapping hundreds of children from northern Uganda as well as committing widespread atrocities, including the rape of children, mutilation, looting and murder.