Without Sudan, it will be impossible to successfully confront the LRA

The current effort against the LRA has failed due to a lack capacity and willingness on the part of the armies facing the LRA, with the possible exception of the Ugandan army. Much has been said about the inability of the Congolese army to refrain from attacking civilians, let alone protecting them from the LRA. The South Sudanese army has been unwilling to stop LRA attacks in Western Equatoria, while the CAR army has too few troops dedicated to this mission to make a difference.

Nothing had changed by the time the AU met in Bangui to suggest the regional armies can mount successful military operations against the LRA. This was perhaps why AU officials asked for funds to train the regional armies, especially the CAR military. They even suggested that South African and Nigerian troops might be called in to fight the LRA. Such suggestions are unrealistic and seem instead designed to elicit funds from international donors, as a Ugandan diplomat recently told Enough. Similarly, the push to define the LRA a terrorist organization seemed to have been put forward with international funds in mind. As CAR Foreign Minister Antoine Gambi recently told AFP, “The international community must not be stingy with the means to help Centrafrica [sic] to get rid of the insecurity created by this rebel group.”

Diplomatic efforts – something the AU can be quite good at – seem to have taken a back seat to the military options at the Bangui meeting.

Conspicuously absent from the talks was representation from Sudan. Any effort against the LRA these days must involve Khartoum. Here is to hoping AU chiefs are privately talking to Sudanese President Bashir, whether to convince the Sudanese army to push LRA units outside of Darfur and northern Sudan or simply to press for potential Sudanese support to the LRA to end.

Sudanese authorities were asked to participate in the Bangui meeting initially scheduled for September, according to Enough sources, but there was no response from Khartoum even as the meeting was postponed to October to accommodate the Sudanese.

– Ledio Cakaj blogs for Enough Project at Enough Said.

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