AFRICA/DR CONGO-"The LRA could offer its cooperation to Al Qaida": the alarm of the Archbishop of Kisangani

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "If you do not put an end to the regionalization of the crisis, the LRA will geographically expand its danger and may even attack the interests of the nations beyond the borders of Africa, offering its dirty services to well constituted and virulent terrorist movements, such as Al Qaeda". It is the alarm raised by His Exc. Mgr.Marcel Utembi Tapa, Archbishop of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, in front of a group of accredited ambassadors in Kinshasa who met on 9 June, the Regional Network and Interfaith Religious Leaders for Peace (RNIRLP).
This network is composed of religious leaders from Uganda, DRC, South Sudan and Central African Republic, Countries that are affected by the violence committed by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a guerrilla group formed in the second half of the 80s in northern Uganda, which has long been raging in several areas of Central Africa (see chart). The LRA carries out raids and massacres in the villages, forcing the population to flee. During the raid, youth and children are kidnapped to replenish the ranks of the group, to the point that this movement is now multiethnic and multinational.
Mgr. Utembi Tapa, underlined the need to find a peaceful solution, reviving negotiations in Juba (which were interrupted in 2007) but has called for, at the same time, the urgency to protect the civilian population through the establishment of a regional “disciplined, motivated and well equipped" brigade. In this military training all the states threatened by the LRA should be involved, to avoid "any hidden agenda for the benefit of all or part of a government and to the detriment of others". Mgr. Utembi Tapa also asked to prosecute those who provide logistical support to LRA.
Mgr. Utembi Tapa reaffirmed the willingness of religious leaders contributing to peace negotiations, and finally an appeal because they bring aid to people affected by the LRA who have not yet been reached by humanitarian organizations. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 06/15/2011)