Salim Saleh's new responsibilities in Lord's Resistance Army are sign Kony is weakening, according to general 
 
 Uganda's notorious rebel chief Joseph Kony has named his son as deputy leader of his Lord's Resistance Army, a guerrilla force infamous for its extreme violence, the country's army has said. 
 
 Salim Saleh, reported to be 22, is understood to have spent his entire life in the bush with his father's force, which continues to defy international efforts to hunt them down. 
 
 "Previously the son was in charge of the group providing security to the father, but now he has an added responsibility of field command," the top Ugandan general Sam Kavuma said. 
 
 Kavuma claimed it was a sign that Kony's control of the force had been weakened, with fighters now split into several autonomous gangs. 
 
 Long since forced from Uganda, the rebels roam remote forest regions of the Central African Republic, Sudan, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 
 
 "The role of the son is an indication Kony has lost contact with most of his commanders, some who have been killed by our forces and others are in disarray, with the rebels becoming weaker," Kavuma said. 
 
 However, the force has shown itself adept at avoiding capture and continues to launch attacks despite being hunted by Ugandan troops with the support of US special forces. 
 
 Kony, who launched a rebellion in Uganda more than two decades ago, is wanted by the international criminal court along with fellow top commanders on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, sexual slavery and using child soldiers. 
 
 "Intelligence information collated from [rebel] defectors indicate Kony's son is the most influential person after his father," said Kavuma, who heads the Ugandan mission searching for the rebel chief. 
 
 Salim Saleh is reportedly named after the younger brother of the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, a top military officer and influential politician. ||||| Image caption Kony is one of the world's most infamous fugitives 
 
 US officials have cast doubt on reports that Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony is negotiating his surrender in the Central African Republic (CAR). 
 
 A US State Department official told the BBC that some rebels had been in contact but Kony was not among them. 
 
 However, CAR officials later insisted that Kony, who is wanted for alleged war crimes, has been in talks with their government. 
 
 The US has offered up to $5m (£3.3m) for leads resulting in his arrest. 
 
 Kony founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda more than 20 years ago, and his fighters are notorious for abducting children to serve as sex slaves and child soldiers. 
 
 Analysis We have been here before. There were even better prospects when former Ugandan official Betty Bigombe made direct contact with Kony. What is slightly different this time is Kony is a shadow of his former self, reportedly in fading health, having lost many fighters and operating in a volatile region. In South Sudan, he does not have sanctuary - since Khartoum stopped support. A local vigilante group on the border with Uganda and CAR has been protecting people against LRA attacks. In DR Congo, a robust UN mission has just helped the local army defeat M23 rebels. This force could be easily deployed to help in the hunt for Kony. In CAR, near-anarchy makes it relatively easy for regional armies hunting him to cross the border and capture him. Armed gangs in the chaotic nation could also seek to catch him to claim the $5m bounty offered by the US. After two decades on the run, Kony is short of options. That he has reportedly talked of possible surrender indicates how desperate he is. 
 
 The US official also noted that Kony had previously used "any and every pretext to rest, regroup, and rearm, ultimately returning to kidnapping, killing, displacing and otherwise abusing civilian populations". 
 
 The LRA was forced out of Uganda in 2005 and since then has wreaked havoc in CAR, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
 
 Kony was on the verge of signing a peace deal in 2008 but insisted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) first drop its arrest warrant, which it refused to do. 
 
 On Wednesday, a CAR government spokesman told the BBC that Kony was in the country but wanted his security to be guaranteed before giving himself up. 
 
 According to AFP news agency, CAR leader Michel Djotodia, said: "Joseph Kony wants to come out of the bush. We are negotiating with him." 
 
 A US State Department official said Washington was aware that CAR authorities had "been in contact for several months with a small LRA group in CAR that has expressed interest in surrendering". 
 
 But later on Thursday, a spokesman for Mr Djotodia told the BBC's Newshour radio programme that the president had had a phone conversation with Kony, who was in the remote Central African town of Nzoka "with nearly 7,000 people, with his whole group, women and children". 
 
 BBC Africa security correspondent Moses Rono says this is not the first time that a breakthrough has been reported with the LRA. 
 
 But he says that Kony is now a shadow of his former self, reportedly in fading health, having lost many fighters and operating in a volatile region, with armed gangs keen to earn the $5m reward. 
 
 The African Union's special envoy on the LRA, Francisco Madeira, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday he had seen reports that Kony was suffering from a "serious, uncharacterised illness". 
 
 In April the Ugandan army suspended a search for Kony in CAR, blaming "hostility" from the government formed when Mr Djotodia's rebel forces seized power there. 
 
 Some 3,000 African troops, backed by 100 US special forces, have been hunting him and his fighters across the region. 
 
 Mr Madeira said the military pressure had kept Kony and the LRA "on the run". 
 
 Kony claims the LRA's mission is to install a government in Uganda based on the Biblical Ten Commandments. 
 
 But he is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of rape, mutilation and murder of civilians, as well as forcibly recruiting children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves.
– Joseph Kony has named his 22-year-old son as deputy leader of his Lord's Resistance Army—and top Ugandan general Sam Kavuma says the move is a sign that Kony's control over the guerrilla force is weakening. Fighters have separated into different autonomous groups roaming across remote parts of Africa, and "the role of the son is an indication Kony has lost contact with most of his commanders, some who have been killed by our forces and others are in disarray, with the rebels becoming weaker," Kavuma says, according to AFP. Salim Saleh is said to have spent his life fighting with his father's violent rebel forces. "Previously the son was in charge of the group providing security to the father, but now he has an added responsibility of field command," Kavuma says. The LRA continues to evade Ugandan troops and US special forces attempting to hunt it down. In November, there were reports Kony was ill and his reign might be nearing an end. In a report last week, the UN said Kony is hiding in a Sudanese-controlled area of the disputed border between South Sudan and the Central African Republic, al-Jazeera reports, and Voice of America adds that a UN official predicted Kony's capture is "coming pretty soon."