The chief Government negotiator Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda held discussions with the LRA delegation yesterday to draw a program for the peace talks. It was the first time since the Juba talks reopened last Thursday that the members of the two delegations met face-to-face. "This is not a plenary session. The talks have not begun in earnest but the process has been initiated," the Government delegation spokesman, Capt. Barigye Bahoku said. Meanwhile, military observers from Kenya and Tanzania also arrived in Juba yesterday. The military observers from Mozambique, DR Congo, South Africa and Zambia are yet to arrive. They will be part of the team to monitor observance of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. Read more at The New Vision.

The UN special envoy Joaquim Chissano flew out of Juba this afternoon without any breakthrough in the peace talks. Chissano worked around the clock over the weekend to try and get the talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government going again. "The opening ceremony was done, but no talks have taken place," a disappointed Chissano said. The LRA did not show up for the planned meetings on the weekend, claiming attacks by the Ugandan army against their fighters in Magwi in eastern Equatoria, Sudan. The UPDF has denied having any troops in Magwi. Still, the head of the LRA delegation, Martin Ojul, said peace talks were still on track. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA delegation in Juba has rejected former minister Owiny Dollo and ex-Omoro MP Jacob Oulanyah as legal consultants to chief mediator Riek Machar. In complaints lodged before the UN special envoy, the LRA claimed Dollo and Oulanyah are government sympathisers. The LRA also demanded that the number of observers from Uganda be restricted. Though the LRA did not say what category of observers, they seemed to cite religious leaders, RDCs, NGO and political parties' officials. Read more at The Monitor.

UN special envoy Joaquim Chissano spent Friday and Saturday shuttling between the LRA and the Ugandan government trying to save the Juba peace talks. The talks stalled on Friday over claims by the LRA that their fighters were being attacked by the Ugandan army. On Friday morning, Chissano travelled to Kampala to consult with President Museveni at State House. He flew back to Juba the same day and held a closed meeting with the chief government negotiator, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda. On Saturday morning, he then met with the LRA delegation in an attempt to have the two parties meet. Still, by press time last night, no breakthrough had been made. Read more at The New Vision.

One day after the resumption of the Juba peace talks, the LRA has accused the UPDF of attacking their positions in South Sudan. In a protest letter yesterday, the rebel delegation urged the chief mediator, Dr. Riek Machar, to prevail on the Ugandan government so as to save the talks. The letter, signed by LRA delegation chairman Martin Ojul, stated that since the extension of the truce on April 14, there have been "repeated and unprovoked attacks on the LRA positions by the UPDF." However, the spokesman of the government delegation, Barigye-Bahoku, dismissed the claims. Read more at The New Vision.

The Juba peace talks resumed today with the LRA delegation requesting that their rebel group be taken off the list for international terrorist organizations. Mr. Matsanga, LRA special appointee said, "People like Olara Otunnu (former UN special envoy on Children in Armed Conflict) want to come to participate in this peace process, but they fear to be labeled terrorists." He said the removal would be a sign of good will. Read more about the first talk of talks at The Monitor.

At the resumption of peace talks today, UN special envoy Joaquim Chissano urged the two delegations to seize the chance of the resumed talks and reach a peace agreement. "Don’t let this opportunity go. I would like to remind Mr. Ojul, when I first met him in Nairobi. Don’t lose this opportunity. And this is valid for the Government team. Don’t lose this opportunity." He said he was optimistic that the handshake between LRA leader Joseph Kony and Internal Affairs Minister Rugunda had sealed the peace agreement and that the delegations were negotiating the details. Read more at The New Vision.

Negotiations between the Ugandan government and LRA have reopened today in Juba after three months of hiatus. The chief mediator for the talks, south Sudan's Vice-President Riek Machar said he is confident that things will be better this time. "The leadership of the LRA recommitted his organisation to the peace process. The Ugandan government also committed itself for the peace talks so I think there is more optimism, there is seriousness in the current peace talks," March said. The talks were officially reopened by UN special envoy, former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano this morning. Read more at BBC News.

Uganda’s Minister for Internal Affairs Ruhakana Rugunda spoke on Voice of America today about the resumption of the Juba peace talks. Rugunda said that the former Mozambican President played a significant role in arranging the resumption of talks. "We will begin the discussions with the comprehensive solutions, which is agenda item number two. And this covers the solutions to the conflict in northern Uganda. And we are really concluding that agenda item. And we will go straight away after that to accountability and reconciliation. This is where we would try and rationale a basis of justice and also of accountability," he said. "I think the prospects are good, and we look forward to moving quickly to conclude a peace agreement that will formally restore peace and normalcy in northern Uganda," Rugunda said. Listen at VOA News.

The resumption of peace talks between the Ugandan government and LRA could boost hopes that most internally- displaced people in northern Uganda can safely return home, local leaders have said. "The collapse of the talks in December worried everybody, but the move to resume talks is seen as the best chance to end the suffering the people have endured," Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu said. According to Odama, uncertainty had reigned in northern Uganda since the talks hit a stalemate in December. "Both parties should return to the negotiation table with a degree of humility and a love for the country and the people who are suffering in the camps where children lack what other children have," the Archbishop added. "It is a responsibility of those negotiating to end that suffering." Read more at UN IRIN.

Peace talks to end the 21-year war in northern Uganda are due to restart on Thursday, three months after LRA negotiators walked out. "They have to push talks to a conclusion this time," said Walter Ochora, district commissioner of Gulu. "People (displaced by war) must have the chance to go back to their homes." This next phase of the Juba talks seeks lasting political solutions to the humanitarian catastrophe the war created, including helping refugees go home. Both sides expect it to be signed quickly, before they tackle the thornier question of accountability for war crimes. Read more at the Independent Online.

The Congolese army and the UN forces in Congo (MONUC) have agreed to monitor the movement of LRA rebels to Ri-Kwangba, their designated assembly point in South Sudan. UPDF army commander Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, his Congolese counterpart Kisempia Sungilanga Lombe and MONUC's Babacar Gaye agreed to this arrangement after meeting in Kampala on Saturday. A joint communique issued after the meeting said the Congolese army with MONUC will not only monitor the movements of the rebels to Ri-Kwangba but also "report any movement to the contrary." Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA has appointed former woman MP for Pader to their peace negotiating team. Santa Okot, who formerly worked in the peace mediation and observation team, will now be advising the LRA delegation when the talks resume on Thursday in Juba. "Our chairman appointed Ms. Okot because she has great knowledge of the effects of the war in the north, therefore she will represent the victims," said LRA chief negotiator, Martin Ojul. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA today demanded a 12-month suspension of International Criminal Court arrest warrants against its top leaders. LRA representative James Obita said the rebel group hopes a request for the suspension of the arrest warrants would be made after a range of issues, including reconciliation and the fate of displaced Ugandans, were resolved by peace talks. He said the LRA had asked UN special envoy Joaquim Chissano to speak to the Security Council on its behalf. "We're saying at the very minimum -- suspend the warrants for 12 months so that we can complete the process and have the comprehensive peace agreement signed," Obita said. Read more at Reuters.

The Juba peace talks between the Uganda government and LRA have so far cost over $3.2million, officials have announced. According to chief mediator, Dr. Riek Machar, about $5.8million has been provided by several donors towards the peace talks. The Ugandan government has contributed $1 million to that total. Investigations by The Monitor indicate that the bulk of the money ($1.864 million) has been spent on accommodating the Ugandan government and LRA delegations. Read more at The Monitor.

Eight African Union (AU) officials will be stationed permanently as monitors at Ri-Kwangba, the LRA assembly point in South Sudan. The AU monitors will reenforce six colleagues from the Uganda government, LRA and the SPLA. "These monitors will be drawn from Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique each sending two officials who will be permanently based at Ri-Kwangba," Internal Affairs Minister Dr. Rugunda said today. The LRA’s demand for AU monitors was among the key issues agreed upon in the new Cessation of Hostilities agreement signed last Saturday by Kampala and the LRA.

In addition, the Juba peace talks scheduled to resume on April 26 will include the Mozambican Minister for the Presidency Francisco Caetano Madeira, South Africa’s Lt. Gen. Gilbert Lebeko Ramano, Tanzania’s Ali Siwa and Kenya’s Japheth Getugi on the mediation team. These officials will be joined by chief mediator and South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA and Ugandan government have agreed to resume peace talks in Juba on April 25, the UN special envoy, Joaquim Chissano, has said. He made the announcement at the end of a two-day meeting between the government delegation and LRA High Command at Ri Kwangba, at the Sudan-Congo border. Both parties also agreed to extend the Cessation of Hostilities agreement until June 30 this year. Read more at The Daily Monitor.

The UN Special Envoy, and former Mozambican president, Joaquim Chissano met with LRA leader Joseph Kony today in a move to push forward the stalled Juba peace talks. Flanked by mediators and Ugandan officials, Chissano said he wanted the government and LRA to extend the cessation of hostilities truce that has expired. "It is my hope we will not leave this place without signing the documents which suspend hostilities," Chissano said after watching Kony shake hands with Uganda's top negotiator, Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. Two days of informal talks are planned in Ri-Kwangba, on the border between Sudan-Congo border. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

Last's week meeting between representatives of the Ugandan government (including President Museveni's brother General Salim Saleh) and the LRA may change the details of the Cessation of Hostilities agreement. Previously, LRA fighters were supposed to gather at two south Sudan camps - one east of the Nile and one near the border with DR Congo. Pax Christi said that now the Ugandan government has agreed all LRA fighters would now be allowed to assemble at the western location. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

The Ugandan government negotiating team, led by Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, is scheduled to meet LRA leader Joseph Kony this Friday. The meeting will take place in Ri-Kwangba, on the Sudan-Congo border. Rugunda will be traveling with the UN Special Envoy and former Mozambican President, Joachim Chissano. "The agenda of the meeting is consultations on when the peace talks will resume," Maj. Felix Kulayigye said. Read more at The Monitor.

Pax Christi Netherlands has announced that from March 31 to April 6 a meeting took place in Mombasa between delegations of the Ugandan government and LRA. In this meeting, the parties discussed unresolved issues in the Juba talks, which may resume as early as Friday. According to the press statement, significant agreements between the delegates were reached on extending and improving the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement; on resolving the outstanding issues of contention in agenda item no. 2 (called "Comprehensive Solutions"); and on specific provisions and mechanisms for agenda item no. 3, reconciliation and accountability in the war torn communities of northern and eastern Uganda. The Parties agreed that the only major issues left for the negotiations would be agenda item no. 4, "Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration," and agenda item no. 5, "Formal Cease Fire." This week the LRA delegation will take the documents to their principals on the Sudan-Congo border to seek approval. IKV Pax Christi Netherlands organized and hosted the meeting.

Obonyo Olweny, spokesman of the LRA negotiating delegation, was interviewed today by Voice of America. Olweny said that the LRA delegation have agreed to travel to Southern Sudan on April 13th to work out the modalities of resuming peace talks. "It’s true that South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique, at the invitation of former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano (UN Secretary General’s representative for Northern Uganda), have agreed to join the mediation team in Juba," Olweny said. He added, "It’s a positive development. We are going to talk about talks." Listen to the full interview at Voice of America.

John Akec has written a provocative article in The Sudan Tribune, asking why the success of Sudan's Naivasha peace process could not be repeated with the Juba talks for northern Uganda. Akec writes, "The short answer is that some of the vital ingredients that helped Kenyans broker peace between Sudanese adversaries are amiss in the recent effort to mediate peace between the Ugandans in Juba." These include a neutral mediator and coordination with international actors. He writes, "Despite the expression of interest by a number US senators for a greater role by the US in Ugandan peace talks, the Bush administration, it seems, is uncomfortable in asking President Museveni to make concessions." Akec argues further that international analysts, such as John Prendergast, have overlooked "the root causes of the war in northern Uganda." Interestingly, Akec has much faith in the intentions and ability of the LRA delegation to "represent" the hopes and needs of the war-affected population. Read the full article at The Sudan Tribune.

The president of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) Salva Kiir has said he is giving the LRA one more chance to negotiate peace with the Ugandan government or else the GoSS will take action against the rebels. Speaking during an official visit to Western Equatoria state, Kiir said his government is ready to work with the international community, the LRA and the Ugandan government to end the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda. Read more at The Sudan Tribune.

Gladys Oroma, news correspondent in northern Uganda, reports that the State Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Musa Ecweru has warned people who are trying to "spoil" the Juba peace talks to stop immediately. Ecweru said that although the Ugandan government is committed to the peace talks, there are some "peace spoilers" who are trying to derail the peace process by confusing LRA leader Joseph Kony and his commanders. Ecweru said he was very sure Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti, their commanders and troops are very tired of the war and want it to end, but some people are still confusing them.

America, the national Catholic weekly, has published an editorial titled "Peace in Northern Uganda?" The editors write, "Nevertheless, hopeful signs have appeared that a peaceful resolution may still be possible to end one of the most neglected humanitarian crises in the world." They continue, "The international community, including the United States, has taken increasing notice of the gravity of the situation. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs, has emphasized the need for U.S. participation in saying that 'the United States and the international community must step up...efforts to achieve' a lasting peace." Read the full editorial at America magazine.

South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique have agreed to join the South Sudan-mediated peace talks in Juba. The call for the three to join the mediation team, led by South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar, was a major condition the LRA set before they return to the negotiating table. Read more at The Monitor.