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LRA rebel Dominic Ongwen surrenders to US forces in CAR
African troops, backed by US forces, have set up a special unit to hunt Joseph Kony and the LRA
Uganda's
military has confirmed that a senior commander in the rebel Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) movement has been taken into custody by US forces.
The army spokesman told the BBC that soldiers had visited
Dominic Ongwen, who was being held in the Central African Republic, to
identify him.The International Criminal Court (ICC) wants to put Mr Ongwen on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But the Ugandan government has said it would prefer to try him at home.
Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo told the BBC that Mr Ongwen should be in Uganda by the end of the week, when he would be charged.
'Historic blow' The LRA has abducted thousands of children in northern Uganda, and neighbouring countries, forcing the boys to become fighters and the girls to become sex slaves.
The US first deployed about 100 special forces in 2011 to support thousands of African troops searching for LRA commanders.
Dominic Ongwen is considered by some to be a deputy commander to LRA chief Joseph Kony.
- Said to have been abducted by LRA, aged 10, as he walked to school in northern Uganda
- Rose to become a top commander
- Accused of crimes against humanity, including enslavement
- ICC issued arrest warrant in 2005
- Rumoured to have been killed in the same year
- US offered $5m (£3.3m) reward for information leading to his arrest in 2013
"[He] wanted to escape but he came into the hands of our second team who arrested him," it quotes a Seleka commander, Mounir Ahmat, as saying.
Earlier, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said a man who identified himself as an LRA defector had surrendered to US forces.
"If the individual proves to be Ongwen, his defection would represent a historic blow to the LRA's command structure," she told reporters in Washington.
'Snatched as a child' Lt Col Paddy Ankunda told the BBC that Ugandan soldiers had confirmed Mr Ongwen's identity after visiting him in the town of Obbo in eastern CAR.
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