Newspaper Says Deputy LRA Chief May Surrender

The deputy leader of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) may surrender to government forces, the country’s state owned New Vision Newspaper has reported. The newspaper says Okot Odhiambo, who is LRA leader Joseph Kony’s second in command, has offered to turn himself in after sustaining gunshot wounds in a clash with Ugandan troops targeting the LRA bases in DR Congo. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says Odhiambo called its Uganda office on Tuesday, requesting them to arrange for his safe return to Uganda. Kony refused to sign a negotiated peace deal last April, forcing the Ugandan army to begin a military campaign against his rebel group in December 2008. [PE]