Uganda govt, rebels want to restart peace talks

Feb 13, 2007 (KAMPALA) — Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army rebels say they will not restart a brutal 20-year war and remain committed to peace despite a near collapse of talks with the government about ending the conflict, a charity said on Tuesday.

The report comes a week after LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti threatened to order his fighters into Uganda from the Sudanese border and attack Ugandan army positions unless the government agreed to a new venue for talks, outside Sudan.

The rebels walked out of talks in the south Sudanese capital Juba last month, citing security fears after Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened to “get rid of the LRA from Sudan”.

Delegates representing the LRA have said they want a new venue for talks, in South Africa or Kenya, but have refused to return to Juba under any circumstances.

Aid agency World Vision, which runs rehabilitation programmes for former LRA child soldiers, said it had organised a teleconference between the rebels and the Ugandan government.

“Top negotiators representing the Ugandan government and the rebel group … reiterated their commitment to resume stalled peace talks during (the) teleconference,” World Vision said in a statement.

Neither LRA nor government representatives were immediately available for comment.

A truce signed in August and renewed in December raised hopes of an end to one of Africa’s longest wars, but the mood has since soured and analysts say talks are close to collapse.

“The people should be assured the LRA will not go back to war, and will do everything in our powers to deliver peace,” the agency quoted LRA spokesman, Godfrey Ayoo, as saying.

His comments mark a turnaround from the LRA’s threats to restart war last week.

World Vision did not say whether an agreement had been reached on the LRA’s demand to move the talks venue from Sudan. Uganda’s government team has repeatedly refused to bow to the demand. But the agency said both sides were committed to breaking the current impasse.

“We are ready to work with LRA to resolve some of the problems barring the peace talks,” government chief negotiator, Ruhakana Rugunda, was quoted as saying. “We had developed good rapport … that pushed us forward.”

The insurgency, led by rebels notorious for killing civilians, mutilating people and kidnapping children, has killed tens of thousands of people in northern Uganda and displaced nearly 2 million.

(Reuters)