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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
UGANDA: Peace talks set to resume
KAMPALA, 13 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Peace talks aimed at ending two decades of conflict in northern Uganda are due to resume in the southern Sudanese capital, Juba, on Thursday, two weeks after the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) announced it was pulling out after accusing the government of violating a ceasefire agreement.
"We are going to Juba tomorrow to continue with the talks, contrary to reports that the talks have broken off. The LRA had pulled out of the talks but they have agreed to come back," Henry Okello Oryem, Uganda's junior foreign minister and deputy leader of the government delegation, told reporters in Kampala on Wednesday.
The LRA for its part said Thursday's meeting would discuss the rebels’ demand that the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement be reviewed.
The leader of the LRA delegation in Juba, Martin Ojul, said the two parties had been invited to review the agreement and deal with the alleged violation that caused the rebel group to withdraw from the talks. The Ugandan government denies the allegation.
"We shall not handle issues on the agenda, but we have been invited to review the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and specifically violations by the Ugandan army when they attacked our forces," said Ojul by telephone from Juba.
The talks that began in July under the mediation of the south Sudan government have dragged on, with the ceasefire agreement being the only significant progress.
"We have spent three weeks in consultations and confidence-building. This period allowed us to strengthen the peace process," Uganda’s Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who is also leader of the government delegation to the talks, said. He said the first item on the agenda was a review of the truce.
"We are going to Juba to review the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and its performance and then move to other items," he added.
Rugunda was, however, unable to say when a final agreement could be reached.
"We wanted the talks to end as soon as possible but we do not have a time check and I cannot say we will finish before the end of the year," he said.
"Things are not as straight as one may think and we want a lasting peace deal. The focus of the peace talks is not day X. We decided not to be prisoners of deadlines," he added.
Thousands of people have died during the 20-year insurgency. Another two million have been driven out of their homes and have lived in squalid conditions in camps around northern and eastern Uganda. The LRA has been accused of abducting more than 20,000 children, conscripting boys as fighters or porters and turning girls into sex slaves for senior male soldiers.
The International Criminal Court has indicted five of the LRA leaders, including its head, Joseph Kony. The indictments have become a bone of contention at the talks with the LRA demanding they be lifted.
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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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