Government "happy" with LRA, ADF terrorist listing

Uganda on Tuesday praised the United States for including the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) on its blacklist of international terrorist organisations, the New Vision newspaper reported. "We are very happy that these two have now been listed as terrorist organisations by the USA," Ugandan Vice-President Speciosa Kazibwe said at a commemoration ceremony for the 11 September terror attacks on New York and Washington. "Uganda has been affected by terrorism for a very long time but we have resolutely fought against the main perpetrators of terror in our country, namely the LRA and the ADF," he said. The US State Department on Wednesday published an updated version of its "Terrorist Exclusion List" designed to protect the safety of the US and its citizens under the new US Patriot Act. The LRA, led by Joseph Kony, has been fighting a guerilla-style war against Ugandan government forces since the late 1980s, ostensibly in a desire to have Uganda ruled according to the Ten Commandments of the Bible. The ADF, operating from the Rwenzori Mountains in western Uganda and from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is a combination of rebels from the Tabliq Muslim sect and remnants of the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU). The Ugandan government in October tabled in parliament the 'Suppression of Terrorism Bill' which, if passed, would impose the death sentence on those committed of acts of terrorism, or any person found to be supporting terrorism either logistically or financially. "Subject to this Act, any person who engages in or carries out any act of terrorism commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be sentenced to death," Section 7 (1) of the Bill states, according to the New Vision. Some Ugandan members of parliament, however, have expressed reservations over the Bill, saying that proposed laws contained within it could be used by the government to suppress legitimate political opposition. Existing laws should be strengthened to tackle terrorism in Uganda, they say.