KAMPALA, Uganda -- Uganda's top military official says African Union troops have suspended the hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic because the new government there is not cooperating with the mission.

Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, the Ugandan army chief, said Wednesday that Uganda-led African forces in Central African Republic stopped operations against Kony until their status is clarified by the African Union.

About 3,000 African troops under the AU's mandate are currently deployed against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in Central African Republic, where rebels deposed a president last month and announced a new government. The African forces are supported by about 100 U.S. military advisers.

Nyakairima said Ugandan troops would stay in Central African Republic until the AU itself asks them to leave.