UGANDA: Uganda to return to peace talks, despite LRA snub

Ugandan negotiators said on Friday (August 4) they will return to peace talks in south Sudan, despite the absence of a top Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander. On Thursday (August 3), the rebels' deputy chief Vincent Otti said he rejected a request by mediators to attend the negotiations in the southern capital Juba, saying he feared arrest. But the head of Uganda's delegation, Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said talks would continue even without LRA leader Joseph Kony. "We want Joseph Kony to come, but if he doesn't, we would continue and push for a peaceful solution, we definitely want Vincent Otti to be there because we know if he is there he would help the decision-making mechanism of LRA and propel the momentum of peace process, but if he is not there, our search for a peaceful solution, our determination to end conflict peacefully will continue." Rugunda said He said Uganda's delegation was waiting for the chief mediator, south Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, to invite them back for the talks which are due to resume on Monday. The LRA launched one of the world's most brutal insurrections from northern Uganda 20 years ago, killing and mutilating civilians, before moving to south Sudan and lately hiding out in the jungles of east Democratic Republic of Congo. Otti and LRA leader Joseph Kony are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Speaking by satellite telephone from their forest camp on Thursday, Otti said the insistence he attend the talks was a "trap" and accused Machar of scheming to have him arrested. Otti said he wanted talks to continue outside Sudan, and that he was losing faith in Machar, who left rebel representatives stranded at a remote outpost on the Sudan-Congo border on Wednesday (August 2) when they failed to produce him. Machar has said he will send transport to collect the delegation on Saturday (August 5). His aides were not immediately available for comment. Flanked by officials, security chiefs and two former top LRA combatants at Friday's news conference in Kampala, Rugunda hailed Machar efforts at mediation. "There have been question marks about the chief mediator, and about the mediation team. The position of the government delegation and Uganda is this, we fully support the initiative of the government of southern Sudan on peace talks for northern Uganda." Rugunda told a news conference. The war between the LRA and Kampala has uprooted nearly 2 million people and killed tens of thousands, as well as destabilising southern Sudan.

ITN Source | August 4, 2006

Tags:. .despite. .push. .failed. .representatives. .border