Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that senior Lord's Resistance Army commanders are gathered in the north-east of the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

We have not been able to assess the veracity of reports that senior members of the Lord's Resistance Army are gathered in the north-east of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, we are aware of reports that local authorities in south-eastern CAR have been in contact with a contingent of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who have expressed an interest in surrendering.

The British Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the atrocities carried out by the LRA. Although much reduced in numbers, the LRA remains an unprincipled, violent threat to civilians in the heart of Africa. The UK has consistently promoted a co-ordinated regional and international approach to defeating the LRA. We continue to encourage the UN and African Union to implement their counter-LRA strategies in full and bring Kony to justice.