Uganda Pardons LRA Lead Negotiator

The Ugandan government has granted full amnesty to James Obita, who has been acting as lead negotiator for the country’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). According to the Uganda Amnesty Commission, Obita was pardoned Thursday after formally applying for amnesty and denouncing the LRA rebellion. The Amnesty Commission was established in 2000 by President Yoweri Museveni’s administration, with the mandate to extend amnesty to surrendering rebels. The LRA’s former negotiator, David Nyekorach Matsanga, has meanwhile claimed that rebel leader Joseph Kony has reappointed him to replace Obita.[PE]