Uganda Finds LRA Rebel Bodies, Not Kony -Govt

The five-day offensive began with an attack by helicopter gunships and an aerial bombardment of the Lord`s Resistance Army (LRA) camps.

Ugandan soldiers found corpses in Joseph Kony's east Congo hideout after it was attacked by the military, but have not found the rebel leader, Kampala said on Thursday.

The five-day offensive began with an attack by helicopter gunships and an aerial bombardment of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) camps, and special forces have since moved into the remote jungle areas to "mop up" the insurgents.

Kony's soldiers have waged a two-decade war against Uganda's government that has spilled over into south Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in one of Africa's longest wars.

"(The Ugandan army UPDF) have found dead bodies ... they are trying to identify the bodies," said Oryem Okello, state minister for international affairs.

"If Kony was among those bodies, we would have known by now," he told Reuters by telephone.

Okello, who was briefed by the army, said he could not say how many bodies were there, adding that it would be difficult to identify some of the dead.

A peace process started in 2006, fell into disarray after the self-proclaimed prophet repeatedly failed to turn up to sign a final deal argued out in negotiations in southern Sudan.

Juba, Kinshasa and Kampala agreed to launch Sunday's attack against the LRA rebels who have been holed up in northeastern Congo since 2005. In June, the three countries said they would jointly combat the insurgents.

Diplomats say the attack was necessary following Kony's repeated refusal to sign the pact and reports that he was using the peace process to re-arm and recruit.

The guerrillas have demanded that arrest warrants for Kony and two deputies be scrapped before they will ink the agreement.

But Uganda says it will ask the U.N. Security Council to defer the indictments only when Kony signs.

Uganda's government says the military operation is aimed at forcing Kony to sign the final deal -- an explanation that opposition members laughed at on Tuesday in parliament.

Only sketchy information has filtered out since the offensive began five days ago. Some opposition parliamentarians said the army had attacked empty LRA camps, local media said.

Nearly 2 million people were displaced and tens of thousands killed during the civil war. Kony's fighters were notorious for hacking off limbs and using children to fight.

"The success of operation should not be measured by Kony's head, but by the capacity of the LRA to continue abducting (and) killing," Okello said.