More pressure needed to counter rebel LRA

BRUSSELS, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- More pressure must be placed on the rebel Lord's Resistance Army to disarm to avoid destabilization in Uganda, the International Crisis Group says.

A report by the independent non-governmental organization says the Juba peace process in Uganda that began in 2006 is failing and that in order to avoid further destabilization in the country, the international community and the Ugandan government must increase pressure on the LRA militant organization, the Crisis Group reported.

The report, titled "Northern Uganda: The Road to Peace, with or without Kony," warns that northern Ugandan communities are being marginalized and that LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony must be challenged but also given credible incentives to disarm.

Crisis Group officials say the African Union and United Nations should partner on isolating Kony and the LRA if he refuses to sign a peace deal.

"The U.N. and the AU have to sustain efforts simultaneously to end the LRA menace," Francois Grignon, Crisis Group Africa program director, said in a statement. "The longer the LRA is allowed to entrench itself at the common borders of Sudan, Congo and the Central African Republic, the more likely it will contribute to serious destabilization of one or another in the near future."