Kampala  - Most of the estimated 30,000 children abducted by Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) during its two- decade-long war with the government were sold to fight in Sudan's restive Darfur province, Uganda's Daily Monitor reported Wednesday.

The children were first forced by the LRA to fight and commit atrocities. Afterward, they were sold to various rebel armies in Darfur to fight or to serve as sex slaves, the newspaper quoted Stephen Kagoda, permanent secretary in the Ministry for Internal Affairs, as telling parliament.

Kampala - Three vehicles collided near Kampala late Friday night killing at least 20 people, many of them children, according to radio reports and witnesses.

The accident took place in Buryantente village, 45 kilometers east of the capital Kampala, when a school bus, a cement-carrying trailer and a small truck crashed into each other, Central Broadcasting Service radio reported.

Kampala - Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been banned by leaders of the only Ugandan tribe that carries out the practice, a month before the seasonal tribal ritual begins, press reports said Thursday.

Elected councillors representing the Sabiny tribe at their main district seat in Uganda's eastern town of Kapchorwa have vowed to have anybody involved in the practice arrested and prosecuted, according to The Daily Monitor newspaper.

"In line with the UN resolution against FGM adopted last year, we have already passed a by-law banning FGM in the district and although it is yet to be verified by the Attorney General, we are determined to end this practice," the paper quoted the district's chairman, Nelson Chelimo, as saying.

Kampala - Seven people were killed when a building under construction in the Ugandan capital Kampala collapsed Tuesday, police said.

Rescue work was continuing into the night, with workers pulling away mud and rubble of the structure belonging to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). Seven more people were feared still trapped.

Heavy rains may have caused the soil around the building's foundation to cave in under the hollowed-out basement, burying the workers, police spokesman Simeon Nsubuga said.

The Hague  - The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague Luis Moreno Ocampo on Monday renewed his call for the arrest of Joseph Kony, leader of the rebel group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and his commanders.

The ICC said the decision to issue the call was taken following renewed attacks by the LRA against civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On September 17 2008 the LRA attacked Congolese villages in the Haut Uelé District of the Dungu Territory.

Kampala - The Ugandan government said Saturday it would strengthen anti-gay laws and step up police operations against homosexuals amid concern over the "mushrooming" number of gays and lesbians in the East African nation.

"The state of moral health in our nation is challenging and we are concerned about the mushrooming of lesbianism and homosexuality," Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told a news conference.

"Ten years ago, this phenomena was not there, but the disease has penetrated everywhere," he added.