Central African Republic: Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels will be given terrorist status
Central African countries plagued by the brutal rebellion of the Lord’s Resistance Army are working to reclassify the group as terrorists, the African Union said on Saturday.
At a meeting this week in the Central African Republic aimed at promoting a joint approach to the LRA, participants agreed to take steps to have the LRA classified as terrorists, rather than rebels, by the AU.
This would give affected countries greater access to international funds and require increased levels of judicial cooperation.
The group has killed about 2,000 people in the last two years, and displaced more than 400,000, according to the UN.
Representatives from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan met in Bangui on Wednesday and Thursday, along with Kenya, where they also agreed to step up joint military action.