US suspends hunt for Lord's Resistance Army, offers rewards for leader instead
With Central African Republic's new leaders not helping find Joseph Kony and other Lord's Resistance Army chiefs, US posts reward instead
The United States has been forced to suspend its two-year hunt for Lord's Resistance Army chief Joseph Kony and instead has offered a US$5 million reward for the capture of one of the world's most wanted men.
Uganda and Washington said they had been forced to call off their troops hunting for Kony in the jungles of the Central African Republic, after rebels seized power in the capital, Bangui. About 100 US special forces troops had been involved in the search for Kony, supporting about 3,000 African troops, mainly Ugandans, in a joint effort to find the warlord and his men.
A spokesman for the Ugandan military, Felix Kulayigye, told journalists on Wednesday that Seleka, the rebel alliance that ousted Central African Republic president Francois Bozize, was unwilling to co-operate with the Kony hunt, so the operation had been suspended.
"Seleka has not been co-operating with us since they took over power," Kulayigye said. "We have been forced to suspend operations until further notice."
The LRA, a Ugandan rebel group, is accused of mutilations and child abductions during its brutal, two-decade insurgency across four countries.