KAMPALA, March 2 (Xinhuanet) -- An official at the Uganda Amnesty Commission has said that over 14,000 Ugandan rebels had got amnesty since the government enacted the amnesty act four years ago.

    The official who preferred anonymity told Xinhua by telephone on Wednesday that the figure includes among others the West Nile Bank Front II who have been fighting since the fall of president Idi Amin in 1979, the Allied Democratic Forces who were fighting in western Uganda in the 1990s and the notorious Lord's ResistanceArmy (LRA) in northern Uganda who have been fighting for the last 18 years.

    The amnesty act was enacted as one of the measures to end the long running conflicts in Uganda since independence in 1962.

    For the last 18 years, the northern part of the country has been facing one of the most gruesome rebellions in Africa that hasleft tens of thousands of people dead. There are still over 1.4 million displaced people living in camps now.

    The enactment of the amnesty act has seen many of the rebels especially those of the LRA taking up amnesty and being integratedinto society.

    Though there is fear that the local society may revenge on these rebels for the atrocities they committed, the country's Minister of Internal Affairs, also the head of the government teamnegotiating peace with the LRA, Ruhakana Rugunda, has said that the government is setting up structures to ensure that there is reconciliation. Enditem