(dpa) - Uganda is not abandoning a peace deal meant to end 22 years of war even though the
notorious commander of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) guerrillas failed to
turn up for last week's signing ceremony, an official said Tuesday.
The elusive LRA chief Joseph Kony was on April 11 supposed to sign the peace
treaty after nearly two years of negotiations and President Yoweri Museveni was
meant to sign Tuesday.
"When it became clear that it would not be possible for Kony to append his
signature to the agreement because he was not anywhere near the venue, the
government delegation held a meeting ... to chart a way forward,"
government negotiator Ruhakana Rugunda said.
During the meeting, it was decided that the government delegation would return
to Kampala while the Sudanese mediators involved in the peace talks "try
to establish contact with Kony with a view to convincing him to sign the
agreement," he added.
The delegations of diplomats, Ugandan and Sudanese government officials waited
from April 8 to 11 in a bush clearing in the village of Nabanga in south Sudan for Kony's delegation which was supposed to reach them through Ri-Kwangba on the
Congo-Sudan border, where the guerrilla commander fled in late 2004.
Kony who has waged a rebellion that has left thousands dead and displaced more
than 1.5 million people, had asked that certain clauses in the peace deal be
clarified before he signs.