Northern leaders hail talks between Government and LRA

The Sudan-sponsored peace talks due next week between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) provide the best opportunity to resolve the 20-year-old conflict in northern Uganda, leaders from the region have said. Betty Bigombe, a former Ugandan minister and long-time mediator of the northern peace process, asked all parties to put a "premium on peace", saying this was the priority. "My hope is that this succeeds," Bigombe said. "A premium on peace is a priority. It is one thing to talk about peace, and completely another for two million people to live it. The two million people who have suffered for two decades must be considered and everybody must put a premium on peace." Walter Ochola, the resident district commissioner of Gulu district, who has been instrumental in efforts to find a negotiated settlement, was hopeful the Sudanese initiative would work. "It is the wish of everybody in northern Uganda that this time they are serious because that is what everybody has been waiting for," he added. A government spokesman, Robert Kabushenga, told IRIN that Uganda had agreed to begin peace talks with rebels next week in the latest attempt to end the brutal civil war in northern Uganda. This was after government representatives met southern Sudanese leaders, who are expected to mediate the talks. "We are sending a delegation to Juba for the talks next week. There will be no pre-conditions because the main priority is peace in northern Uganda and southern Sudan," said Kabushenga, adding that a delegation headed by the interior minister, Ruhakana Rugunda, was expected to brief the government this week on the planned talks, which are set to be held in southern Sudan. "This is a positive development. I have the impression that people are sceptical but hopeful that both parties are serious this time. It is the hope of everybody that the current security is maintained," Rev. Fr. Carlos Rodriguez, of Gulu Archdiocese said. "It is a good process so long as the LRA does not come back to disturb the population." An expanded government negotiating team is scheduled to go back to Sudan for the talks, but the date has yet to be decided. "The next task will be to set up a delegation and deciding who should constitute it," Kabushenga added. LRA negotiators have been in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba for almost a month, waiting for the Ugandan delegation. President Yoweri Museveni’s government had been wary of talks with the LRA leaders, some of whom have been indicted by the International Criminal Court, but a minister said yesterday that Kampala was ready to talk peace despite the indictments. Last year, the Hague court indicted rebel leader Joseph Kony and his top four commanders for crimes against humanity. Salva Kiir, president of the autonomous southern Sudanese government, said on Monday that direct negotiations between Kampala and the LRA would start in Juba next week under the mediation of his administration. "We have agreed on how to proceed with the talks," he told a news conference after meeting an advance team from Kampala. "In the meantime, consultations will take place. Next week, the talks will begin." Several attempts to broker an end to the notorious insurgency have failed in the past to end the rebellion that has killed thousands of people and displaced close to 2 million others since the LRA took leadership of a regional rebellion in 1988 in a bid to oust Museveni.