¡¡¡¡KAMPALA, Aug. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The Ugandan army has launched a massive operation against the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels inthe northern district of Lira, reported local daily the New Vision Wednesday.

¡¡¡¡Lira resident district commissioner Charles Egou Engwau was quoted as saying Tuesday that the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) 4th division commander flew to Lira district to assess the situation.

¡¡¡¡The LRA rebels had been wreaking havoc in Lira in the last week,trying to attack the town but were repulsed by the government troops, he said.

¡¡¡¡On Saturday evening, rebel leader Joseph Kony told local press by telephone that he had ordered all LRA rebels inside Uganda and the Sudan not to attack the government troops with effect from Saturday midnight.

¡¡¡¡The rebels have set three conditions for the ceasefire among which are that UPDF should not attack the LRA positions; the UPDF must not move within one km of LRA positions and must not commit any act of provocation that may draw suspicion from LRA.

¡¡¡¡However, the Ugandan army has rejected the unilateral ceasefiredeclared by rebel leader Kony, saying that the rebels must first fulfill the conditions which President Yoweri Museveni had laid down for peace.

¡¡¡¡Museveni said Friday he would declare a one-week ceasefire to pave way for peace talks if the rebels stopped their attempts to abduct people, released all captives and stopped killing families of captives who escape.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, Ugandan army commander James Kazini Monday told the rebels "to relocate themselves to Owiny-Kibul and Kisenga in southern Sudan and unpopulated parts within the northern parts of Uganda."

¡¡¡¡LRA commander Sam Kolo said Tuesday that the two areas, both located in southern Sudan, were "inhabitable".

¡¡¡¡LRA rebels, based in southern Sudan, have abducted some 14,000 children and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in northernUganda in the last 16 years. Enditem

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