An African Union special envoy says the notorious warlord Joseph Kony may be seriously ill and trying to find a safe haven for his Lord's Resistance Army fighters.
Francisco Madeira, the AU's special envoy on the LRA, said Wednesday that the leader of the Central African Republic has been in touch with Kony and is trying to negotiate a surrender.
But Madeira said Kony likely is "duping" the CAR government into "negotiations" in order to buy time to relocate his fighters. He did not disclose the source or the nature of Kony's reported illness.
Kony has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He waged a brutal guerrilla war against the Ugandan government for nearly two decades, before fleeing with his fighters into the jungles of central Africa around 2005.
A 5,000-member African Union Regional Task Force, supported by about 100 U.S. Special Forces, has been hunting Kony and his fighters in jungles straddling the borders of the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Francisco Madeira, the AU's special envoy on the LRA, said Wednesday that the leader of the Central African Republic has been in touch with Kony and is trying to negotiate a surrender.
But Madeira said Kony likely is "duping" the CAR government into "negotiations" in order to buy time to relocate his fighters. He did not disclose the source or the nature of Kony's reported illness.
Kony has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He waged a brutal guerrilla war against the Ugandan government for nearly two decades, before fleeing with his fighters into the jungles of central Africa around 2005.
A 5,000-member African Union Regional Task Force, supported by about 100 U.S. Special Forces, has been hunting Kony and his fighters in jungles straddling the borders of the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.