Ugandan president says Kony "not serious" on talks

JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony on Monday of not being serious about peace talks and hinted his forces could resume operations against the guerrillas.

Prospects of an end to one of Africa's longest wars were dashed last week after Kony, commander of the Lord's Resistance Army, failed to attend a signing ceremony on the Sudan-Congo border, stalling nearly two years of tortuous negotiations.

"You have been able to persist until it is clear that it's Kony who is not serious," Museveni told south Sudanese mediators during a visit to the southern capital Juba.

He accused LRA fighters of continuing to kidnap villagers from southern Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic and then forcing them into the rebel ranks.

"But the people of south Sudan should know we stand with them and we have the means to work together with them to solve some of these problems," Museveni told reporters.

Uganda's military fought the LRA across southern Sudan, but these clashes largely stopped in mid-2006 after peace talks began in Juba.

The U.N. envoy to the conflict told Reuters earlier on the Congo border that the negotiations with Kony were not dead, despite rebel infighting that apparently killed a fugitive commander and delayed the final signing.

Joaquim Chissano, a former Mozambican president, blamed a breakdown in communication with the elusive guerrilla boss.

"The peace process is not dead. There is a lack of effective communication, and that's what the LRA leader wants," he said.

"There are people who are assisting in establishing that effective communication, and once that clarification is made the peace process will be back on the road."

Chissano was expected to meet Museveni later in Juba.

ICC TARGET DEAD?

The 22-year civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 2 million more in northern Uganda alone. It has also destabilized neighboring parts of Sudan's oil-producing south and eastern Congo, which has large mineral wealth.

Kony, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, had been expected to sign a final agreement in Ri-Kwangba on Thursday. But he failed to show up.

An LRA spokesman has said the rebel leader remains ready to sign, but wants guarantees of his safety and financial security.

Then on Sunday, rebel sources said disputes within the LRA over the proposed deal triggered gun battles last week that killed at least nine people -- including Okot Odhiambo, a top commander who is also wanted by international prosecutors.

Kony, Odhiambo and a third senior rebel, Dominic Ongwen, were accused by the ICC in 2005 of offences including rape, murder and the abduction of thousands of children who were forced to serve the group as fighters, porters and sex slaves.

If confirmed, Odhiambo would become the third of five LRA suspects named by the ICC who have since died.

Kony executed his deputy Vincent Otti last October after accusing him of being a government spy, while fifth indictee Raska Lukwiya was killed by the Ugandan military in August 2006.

Even if Kony does sign a peace agreement, the LRA says it will not disarm until the ICC indictments are scrapped. The Ugandan government has said it will only call for the warrants to be lifted after a final deal has been reached.

The world court says its warrants remain active, and that Uganda has a legal obligation to arrest the targets.

(Additional reporting by Francis Kwera in Ri-Kwangba; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

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