U.S. Offers $5M Bounty for Kony as Uganda Cancels Search

As Uganda called off the country's search for fugitive Jospeh Kony, the U.S. sent a clear message Wednesday that it is determined to help bring the international war criminal to justice, offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Uganda halted its efforts to find Lord's Resistance Army chief Kony because the new Central African Republic government is not cooperating with the mission, Uganda's top military official said. The Central African Republic was thrown into even more turmoil in March by a revolution orchestrated by the group Seleka, lead by former rebel leader Michel Djotodia who took over the capital city of Bangui, threw out the old leader, declared himself president and proclaimed a new government for the country. The search won't resume until the African Union clarifies the mission's status. 

The African Union directs the deployment of armed forces in Central Africa. The U.S. military provides support for the African Union with roughly 100 military advisers.

Uganda's announcement arrived as U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to prove America's devotion to Kony's arrest by setting a $5 million bounty on his head, as well as two of the lieutenants in his forces, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen, and leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, Sylvestre Mudacumura.

The rewards are part of a State Department measure approved by Obama in January, which included in the War Crimes Rewards Program that was created by Secretary of State John Kerry while he was Senator of Massachusetts. Kerry's new provision widened the extent of the measures that had allowed the U.S. to offer rewards for suspects of war crimes that were wanted by the international criminal courts for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The newly signed law now addresses suspects wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Lord's Resistence Army Chief Kony has menaced the Central African Republic for 25 years. Reports estimate that about 400,000 people have been displaced by the Lord's Resistance Army's actions.