UGANDA: Chissano in Gulu to salvage LRA-Govt peace deal
GULU, 18 August 2008 (IRIN) - The United Nations special envoy for Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)-affected areas, Joachim Chissano, has said LRA leader Joseph Kony is finally willing to sign a deal to end more than 20 years of conflict in northern Uganda, but only after meeting personally with the mediator of peace talks.
A Final Peace Agreement was to have been signed in April, but Kony failed to show up to the ceremony because of concerns about his indictment for war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court.
"I am processing the meeting between the LRA leader with the mediator [Southern Sudan President Riek Machar]," Chissano said on 17 August at the end of a two-day visit to the country.
Chissano, who toured the LRA conflict-affected district of Gulu in northern Uganda, had earlier held a series of meetings with President Yoweri Museveni and other senior government officials in the capital, Kampala, as well as with representatives of UN agencies and aid organisations. In Gulu, Chissano held meetings with cultural and political leaders, survivors of the conflict, returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The envoy reiterated that during almost two years of talks in the Southern Sudanese capital, Juba, all issues had been resolved to both sides' satisfaction.
"The final agreement has been initialled and we are waiting, any time, for Gen Kony and President Museveni to sign it.
"President Museveni is ready to sign any time but Gen Kony still wants to have a meeting with his delegation, the chief mediator and others before he signs, probably to have some clarification since he was not involved directly in the talks, he has been relying on information from his delegation so he needs more clarification and understanding."
GULU, 18 August 2008 (IRIN) - The United Nations special envoy for Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)-affected areas, Joachim Chissano, has said LRA leader Joseph Kony is finally willing to sign a deal to end more than 20 years of conflict in northern Uganda, but only after meeting personally with the mediator of peace talks.
A Final Peace Agreement was to have been signed in April, but Kony failed to show up to the ceremony because of concerns about his indictment for war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court.
"I am processing the meeting between the LRA leader with the mediator [Southern Sudan President Riek Machar]," Chissano said on 17 August at the end of a two-day visit to the country.
Chissano, who toured the LRA conflict-affected district of Gulu in northern Uganda, had earlier held a series of meetings with President Yoweri Museveni and other senior government officials in the capital, Kampala, as well as with representatives of UN agencies and aid organisations. In Gulu, Chissano held meetings with cultural and political leaders, survivors of the conflict, returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The envoy reiterated that during almost two years of talks in the Southern Sudanese capital, Juba, all issues had been resolved to both sides' satisfaction.
"The final agreement has been initialled and we are waiting, any time, for Gen Kony and President Museveni to sign it.
"President Museveni is ready to sign any time but Gen Kony still wants to have a meeting with his delegation, the chief mediator and others before he signs, probably to have some clarification since he was not involved directly in the talks, he has been relying on information from his delegation so he needs more clarification and understanding."
Copyright © IRIN 2008
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
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