Uganda military closes in on senior LRA Commander in CAR

Joseph Kony

KAMPALA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan military on Thursday said that Dominic Ogwen, the second in command of the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) survived capture in Central African Republic (CAR).
Col. Felix Kulayigye, army spokesman said that Ugandan troops hunting for the LRA in the jungles of CAR on Tuesday had a close fight with Ogwen who is wanted by International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
During the fight, Ogwen survived but one of his fighters was killed and Aanother injured.
Two sub machine guns, two magazines, a walkie talkie and a spare battery were recovered from the rebels.
Kulayigye said the hunt for Ogwen will continue to either capture him alive or dead noting that this is the second time the squads are meeting him in less than a month.
Fire fights against Ogwen come amidst recent reports that the LRA abducted 55 people in CAR.
In the neighbouring Kenya' the country`s Tourism Minister Dan Mwazo on Thursday assured visitors to the country that the impending general elections scheduled for March 4, 2013 will not jeopardize the security of the country.
Speaking in Nairobi during the launch of Kenya's Musical Theatre Show, Maanzo said Kenyans learnt the hard way from the 2008 post-elections violence that almost brought the country to the brink of a civil war.
"People should not be excited that Kenya is heading towards a general election and fear for the worst. General elections everywhere always bring along with them a charged environment and it is already happening in America the same way it happened in France and Kenya should not be an exception. It is the violence part of it that is disgraceful."
During the crisis over 1,300 people were killed and a truce was only reached between the two political protagonists, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the Party of National Unity (PNU) that was brokered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The UN has also repeatedly warned that a repeat of the problems could occur unless the East African nation strengthened its institutions and the perpetrators are punished.
The minister assured tourists and other visitors to Kenya that there is no need for fear and appealed to politicians on the need to pacify the country to address any such fears.
"Politicians should be left to play their game but as they go for vote hunting, they should show restraint and avoid any remarks that could cause tensions among Kenya's diverse ethnic identities, " Mwazo said.
He disclosed that the recent violence that rocked the coastal city of Mombasa did not have much effect on tourism, which the region highly depends on for foreign revenue.
"Despite the violence, bed occupancy averaged at fifty percent and in some hotels it retained the one hundred percent figure. Growth in tourist numbers also remained at the six percent level as it was prior to the crisis," the minister said.
Protests erupted in Mombasa on Aug. 27 after rowdy youth protesting the killing of a controversial Muslim cleric Abou Rogo engaged riot police in street battles and during which left at least four dead.(Xinhua)