A United States State Department official said the U.S. is pursuing new avenues in the search for Joseph Kony, according to The State.
The U.S. announced Thursday that it will be putting $5 million reward for anyone who can provide information on the warlord who was made famous by a YouTube video.
Kony was made famous by filmmaker Jason Russell, who made a video on YouTube asking the world to help find the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army. The LRA is a group of soldiers who steal children amd adults and make them into sex slaves and warriors for the army.
The campaign, which picked up steam last year, died down in social media and in the real world. Currently, there are 100 U.S. Special Forces that lend advice to forces in South Sudan, Congo, Uganda, and the Central African Republic. However after rebels took over the Bangui—the capital of CAR—a couple weeks ago, the search for Kony has stopped for the time being.
However, Stephen J. Rapp , ambassador-at-large for the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice, said there is hope for the hunt to resume. The rebels who have overthrown the president of CAR also consider Kony an enemy. They say they would like to see him dealt with in “the next six months.”
"So I think we're going to have the potential for support for operations there," Rapp told reporters. "Operations there have been paused. People there haven't been withdrawn. Work will go on to make sure that operations can go on. It's in the interest of the CAR and in the interest of all the people in the region."
In addition to a reward for information on Kony, the Obama administration is also giving an award two of Kony's top warriors. The rewards are made legal by a section on of the War Crimes Reward Program. The piece of legislation was written by Secretary of State John Kerry during his time as senator. It was then signed into law in January by President Barack Obama.
