Uganda rebels make talk condition

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Uganda's northern rebels want Khartoum to join stalled peace talks which started in south Sudan last year.

Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony told the UN peace envoy, Joaquim Chissano, this would reassure them.

In January, the LRA refused to resume talks after Sudan's president accused them of committing atrocities in south Sudan and threatened to evict them.

Mr Chissano went to meet Mr Kony in his jungle hideout in an effort to restart the talks to end Uganda's 20-year war.

A truce signed last August between the Ugandan government and rebels expired in February.

Some 2m people have fled their homes and thousands of children have been abducted by the LRA during the civil conflict.

Conditions

Nobert Mao who represented northern Uganda war victims at the meeting in Ri-Kwangba, south Sudan, said the rebels will return to Juba, the venue for the talks.

"LRA top leadership assured the team that they want to return to Juba," Mr Mao, the Gulu Local Council chairman, told the BBC.

"But they also want the representation at the talks to be broadened," he said.

The rebels also asked Mr Chissano, the former president of Mozambique, to ensure that more observers be included before they return to the negotiating table.

Earlier the LRA wanted the venue of the talks to be changed, accusing of the southern Sudanese mediation team of being partisan.

The LRA has denied attacking southerners and now wants a free passage to be provided to its fighters to the east of the River Nile, where the alleged atrocities have taken place.

Other conditions set by the rebels include:<ul class="bulletList"><li>an allowance increase for the negotiation team</li><li>the deployment of 1,000 peacekeeping troops to areas where the rebels are to assemble in south Sudan</li><li>Ugandan soldiers to withdraw from south Sudan</li><li>to be treated with respect by the mediation team</li><li>a guarantee of security for their delegation in Juba.</li></ul>

Joseph Kony and three of his top commanders are wanted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court and have indicated that no deal will be signed while the warrants for their arrest are still in place.

Mr Chissano has assured the rebel leaders that the conditions will be addressed.

He said the Ugandan government delegation, represented at the jungle meeting by Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, would let them know whether their demands would be implemented.