Rebel commander jailed for war crimes

A Ugandan court yesterday sentenced a former Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander to 40 years in prison after a landmark war crimes trial over his role in the group's two-decade reign of terror.

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Thomas Kwoyelo, estimated to be about 50 years old, was found guilty in August of multiple counts of crimes against humanity in the first such trial in the East African country.

"This court has determined the 40 years sentence on the offence of murder properly reflects on the criminality of Thomas Kwoyelo," lead judge Michael Elubu said at the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the high court in the northern city of Gulu.

The LRA was founded by former altar boy and self-styled prophet Joseph Kony in Uganda in the 1980s, with the aim of establishing a regime based on the Ten Commandments.