A truce that could spell the end of one of Africa's longest and most brutal wars came into effect today, Uganda's military said.
Under the pact signed on Saturday at peace talks in southern Sudan, the fugitive rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have three weeks to assemble at two south Sudanese camps while negotiations continue to thrash out a final deal to stop their two-decade insurrection.
Both sides have committed to cease hostilities, and a Ugandan military intelligence chief was due to speak on radio in the evening and announce safe passage routes for the rebels.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni
"The commander-in-chief, President Yoweri Museveni, has directed us to stop search and destroy operations ... We are not to shoot at the LRA except in the protection of civilians," army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said.
"We are in the process of pulling back to physical protection of displaced civilians. Where there are no camps we are returning to barracks. It seems to be the end of the war."
Nearly two million people have been uprooted in northern Uganda by fighting between troops and LRA rebels infamous for massacring civilians, mutilating survivors and forcing thousands of abducted children to serve the cult-like group.
The LRA's top leaders, including Joseph Kony and his deputy Vincent Otti, are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and have so far stayed hidden in Congo.
But LRA officials have insisted both men will move to the Sudan camps within the three-week deadline.
"Time is not on their side," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said. "If they don't show up, it will be worse for them. They have nowhere to hide."
ICC prosecutors said yesterday they still hoped for the arrest of Kony and his henchmen, despite an offer of amnesty by Uganda under the terms of the truce.
The truce was given an extra boost on Sunday when Otti called a local radio station in northern Uganda and told fighters in the area to gather at undisclosed locations and await further instructions. They must not harm anyone or loot food on the way, he said.