African Archbishops petition Brown on LRA attacks

|PIC1|African Church leaders have appealed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown to help put an end to brutal attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army.

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, Dr Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, leader of the Church of Uganda, and Bishop George Ande of Aru in the north east Democratic Republic of Congo, made the appeal in a letter to the Prime Minister this week.

In it, the Archbishops tell of repeated attacks by LRA rebels in southern Sudan, northern Uganda and the north eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo since Christmas.

The Church leaders urged the Prime Minister to put diplomatic pressure on leaders of the LRA, the UN peacekeeping missions, and political leaders in Sudan, Uganda, and the Congo to do more to end the LRA’s attacks on unarmed civilians.

Anglican bishops in the affected regions have reported frequent and brutal attacks by the LRA, including the torture of women and children, child abductions, the use of machetes in executions, and the torching of homes and churches.

With the attacks leading to an influx of refugees in many Congolese and Sudanese towns since December, the Churches called for more international assistance to help the tens of thousands of people displaced by the attacks.

Dr Deng appealed to the Government to help in finding a “whole Sudan” solution to the country’s problems, including a strained peace agreement and the indictment of President Omar al-Bashir.

He contended that the LRA and other crises would be solved when diplomatic pressure on Khartoum was coupled with a development programme that would bring about a maximum “peace dividend” to the people of southern Sudan.

The letter follows a recent statement of concern for the situation in Sudan from the Primates of the Anglican Communion, in which they warned that peace was being jeopardised by the failure of leaders to implement substantial elements of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.