-----Original Message-----From: Allan.Rock@international.gc.ca [mailto:Allan.Rock@international.gc.ca]Sent: 27 December 2005 15:56To: malcolm.harper@ukonline.co.ukSubject: FW: Conflict in Uganda Malcolm: Canada has now formally asked the Security Council to put on its agenda the conflict in Uganda. We have also suggested a variety of steps the Council might take to help end this 20-year-old war that has taken so many lives. I have attached, for your information, a copy of our letter, which was delivered on Friday last. Our principal concern is for the protection of the civilian population. Over 1.5 million residents of northern Uganda have been driven from their homes, to survive in the dreadful conditions of "camps" for the "internally displaced". Over 1,000 civilians die each week from war-related causes. Over 25,000 children have been kidnapped by the "Lord's Resistance Army", a violent militia, to serve as child soldiers, pack mules, sex slaves, or all three. Recently, the LRA has stepped up its attacks on humanitarian workers, killing a number, and interrupting the supply of badly needed provisions. And the violence now threatens to further destabilize the entire region, with the LRA active in both southern Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. On this basis, we argue that the war in Uganda surely represents a threat to "international peace and security". Canada has long contended that the world should be doing much more to stop this conflict, and to see that the civilian population is protected. With the delivery of this letter, we have taken an important step in our efforts to draw attention to this tragic emergency, and urge that effective action be taken. In my discussions about this matter with individual members of the Council and with the Secretary- General, I have made clear that Canada will continue to do everything possible to persuade the Council to act. Allan