The LRA delegation yesterday threw out a carefully-drafted document for an extension to the landmark August 26th cessation of hostilities truce. The parties at the Juba talks had converged to finalize the extension, but trouble began when the LRA delegation's legal advisor Ayena Odongo, who had been away from the negotiations, returned and demanded a review of the draft document. Capt. Paddy Ankunda, the government delegation's spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that the LRA wants the government to reformulate the whole agreement, which is totally unacceptable to Kampala and the mediator. According to the draft, the LRA fighters scattered east of River Nile have been given one week to assemble at Owiny-ki-Bul, one of two South Sudan assembly points, upon signing the agreement and also charged the SPLA to provide ample security for the trekking forces. Ankunda said the rebels did not raise any objections to this provision but continue to question the status of the UPDF presence in South Sudan. Read more at The Monitor.

The Daily Monitor has printed an open letter to President Museveni, thanking him for agreeing to dialogue with the LRA, but saying that some of his latest pronouncements, actions and commissions in respect of the Juba peace process have cast doubt on his commitment to the success of the talks. The letter reads, "The public mood and desire for a peaceful resolution of this conflict is overwhelmingly at odds with your increasingly visible temptation to resume fighting...If there is even the remotest chance that the talks could yield a peace dividend then Daily Monitor urges you to renew your patience and do everything to help save the process." Read the full letter at The Monitor.

Peace talks in Juba stumbled again today as the LRA delegation threatened to walk out. The delegation said they were angered by President Museveni's weekend missive in which he hinted at possible military action against the LRA once the DR Congo's presidential election is resolved. "From the onset, the President has engaged personally in hostile propaganda against the LRA and we are calling upon him to immediately desist from such practice or else there is no use of us talking peace," said the LRA head of delegation, Martin Ojul yesterday. "The President's continued militaristic attitude and utterances are not helping the peace talks," Ojul said. "If he doesn't want to talk peace, let him withdraw his delegation in Juba." By press time, the two delegations were expected to converge at Juba Raha Hotel to sign the much-anticipated extension to the August 26 truce. However, the negotiations have hit a stumbling block as the LRA insisted once again that the UPDF must withdraw from South Sudan. Read more at The Monitor.

The Daily Monitor has published an open letter to the LRA, urging the rebels to save the peace talks and stop making unreasonable demands that make peace more difficult. The editors argue that a string of unreasonable demands have made it "impossible for independent observers of the process to focus on your [LRA] main sticking concern of the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments." The editors continue, "The LRA must be disabused of any illusions that the Ugandan population — and more so those who have suffered the brunt of your activities in Acholi; Lango; Teso and West Nile — is interested in continued armed conflict. An independent Daily Monitor poll found that 96% of Ugandans want the conflict resolved peacefully." Tomorrow, The Daily Monitor will publish an open letter addressed to President Museveni and the Ugandan government. Read the full letter to the LRA at The Monitor.

The Government and LRA were yesterday expected to sign an addendum to the cessation of hostilities truce agreement which would give the rebels one week to re-assemble and a 10 kilometer radius at assembly points. The signing on Saturday was delayed by LRA absence, which the LRA delegation said was because they needed further legal advice. The addendum further bars recruitment and rearmament, to be monitored by the South Sudan government. Read more at The New Vision.

President Museveni has insisted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should maintain its arrest warrants against LRA top commanders until a peace agreement is signed. "The ICC is actually very good for us (Uganda) because it makes the terrorists (rebels) come up to seek peace and end impunity. ICC was created to fight impunity," Museveni said at the general meeting of the East African Law Society. Museveni further said, as he has many times before, that peace in northern Uganda would come irrespective of what comes out of the talks. Museveni said, "The peace talks you are talking about is really a tail end of the problem in the north. If they are clever enough, they should come out. In any case, we shall get them or kill them." If the rebels do accept a peace agreement, Museveni said his government will tell the ICC that "a new situation has arisen and the people have found an alternative method of conflict resolution." Read more at The Monitor.

Once again, Uganda-CAN urges President Museveni to avoid hostile and threatening language when speaking in public about the conflict in northern Uganda. President Museveni has shown much leadership and good will in supporting the current Juba talks, but calling the LRA "terrorists" and threatening to kill them does not help build confidence and trust necessary for talks to succeed. Second, Museveni's statement that peace will return to the north irrespective of Juba's outcome ignores the reality that nearly 1.7 million people still live in squalid camps and fear daily for their livelihood and security. The people of northern Uganda beg Museveni to fully engage peace talks to end this war; it's time that the President shows he is listening to them and speaks as if he represents their best interests.

In a new ultimatum, the Ugandan government has given the LRA rebels one week to assemble at Owiny-Ki-bul, despite a vow this week by the LRA's Vincent Otti that his forces will not move any inch closer to that assembly point. However, there are discussions in Juba to extend the August 26th truce to give the rebels more time. State Minister for Defence Ruth Nankabirwa reporters today that the two warring parties at the Juba talks had made considerable concessions and agreed that there is need to extend the truce. Nankabirwa also told the press that an investigation into last week's ambushes, which claimed lives of 41 civilians, had revealed that there are other groups besides the LRA operating in South Sudan, which may have carried out the attacks. "These are groups which don't want the peace talks to succeed," she said. "They are entrepreneurs of violence." Read more at The Monitor.

Uganda-CAN urges the parties in Juba to extend the cessation of hostilities truce to build confidence in the peace talks and especially to continue the relative security for the people of northern Uganda. Since talks began, there have been almost no abductions or attacks on civilians in northern Uganda. The number of child “night commuters” has decreased substantially to only a few thousand. This security has allowed some 300,000 internally displaced peoples to begin returning home and farming. If continued, UNHCR estimates 500,000 IDPs can begin returning home by the end of the year.

Sporadic gunfire rocked Juba on Thursday night for several hours. Five people, including a baby, were reportedly killed in the shooting on the outskirts of the South Sudan town hosting the peace talks between Uganda and the LRA rebels. As the gunfire reverberated, the LRA and government teams were locked in a closed meeting reviewing the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CHA) at Juba Raha camp. A total of 17 suspected former militiamen were arrested by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) near Gumbo Bridge. One security sources said the gunfire was masterminded by some Arab traders who were angry that goods from Uganda have flooded the Juba market and pushed the prices down. The Ugandan team leader, internal affairs minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, said the government of South Sudan is better placed to comment on matters within its territory. Read more at The New Vision.

Peace talks between the Government and the LRA rebels in Juba, South Sudan, are on track, a delegation of the Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum on Peace (AMANI Forum), which is observing the talks, has said. A statement from the group said, "The peace talks are proceeding well. Both parties are committed to the successful completion of the talks in the shortest time possible." The statement also said AMANI Forum intends to discuss the Juba talks in the Pan African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa. Read more at The New Vision.

Disagreement over the terms of a revised truce accord has held up peace talks between the two sides in Juba, officials said on Thursday. The LRA has insisted Ugandan troops deployed to southern Sudan either be withdrawn or cantoned, and that rebel forces assemble in only one site, rather than two, near the Sudan-DRC border. However, the spokesman for the Ugandan government delegation at the talks, Capt. Paddy Ankunda, said the new LRA demands were "ambiguous and diversionary" and that the government would reject them. Ankunda said the LRA demands were delaying the peace talks. According to officials close to the mediation, the chief mediator Riek Machar, had presented a compromise proposal to both parties. His plan rejects the LRA demand that Ri-Kwangba be the only gathering site for rebel forces, but also recommends that Ugandan troops withdraw from some areas in southern Sudan. Read more at the UN's IRIN News.

The army of southern Sudan, the SPLA, has ordered the UPDF to vacate areas surrounding Owiny-ki-Bul, one of two designated assembly points. This move, which has pleased the LRA, has drawn protest from the Uganda government. This order came as part of a harmonised paper presented today by chief mediator Riek Machar. Interestingly, many of the areas in question are UPDF military bases in southern Sudan. A source said Kampala was incensed by the document and raised objections. The government delegation in Juba preferred not to debate the matter at the meeting and said the issue of UPDF's deployment in southern Sudan was not part of the negotiators' mandate. In the meantime, LRA second-in-command Vincent Otti has said his fighters will remain in the wilderness until a new development in the peace negotiations. Otti said his people have kept complaining that the UPDF is following them up. In other reports, it appears there have minor incidents of looting and ambush on the roads around Juba. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA has demanded an extension of the August 26th cessation of hostilities truce, to allow the rebels to relocate to another assembly point. In a position paper presented today in Juba, the LRA delegation demanded six more weeks of truce, during which their scattered forces in southern Sudan and northern Uganda can move to Ri-Kwangba, their preferred assembly point at the Congo-Sudan border. A source at the talks said the rebels' request was rejected. The Government insisted that the rebels assemble at the two designated points. Mediators are working to devise a compromise to strengthen the ceasefire truce. Meanwhile, the chief mediator Riek Machar express optimism yesterday that the talks will succeed and that both parties are committed to ending the war. Machar further said President Museveni's visit over the weekend boosted the process. "The visit of the President to Juba gave a push to the talks," he said. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA has said it wants all its troops to assemble in Ri-Kwangba in Western Equatorial State, one of the two assembly points in southern Sudan. The LRA delegation presented this as peace talks resumed in Juba today. The latest condition follows the rebels recent refusal to assemble in Owiny-Kibul because the UPDF had reportedly deployed there. Captain Paddy Ankunda, the UPDF spokesman at the talks, said, "This new condition by LRA has startled us. We suspected that they wanted to cross the Nile to join the main group in Garamba." Read more at The New Vision.

Today the Government of Uganda defended President Museveni's visit to Juba against claims from the Sudanese government that the trip was in violation of the diplomatic code. Ambassador James Mugume, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said individuals bent on spoiling relations between Sudan and Uganda orchestrated Khartoum's weekend outburst. "I think there was a political motive. Whoever is talking about the breach is doing it for political reasons and wants to heap up anti-Uganda sentiments," he said. Meanwhile, the LRA's Vincent Otti has demanded for a new assembly point for his forces if the rebels are to show more commitment to the strained peace process. Otti said he would formally request the talks' chief mediator to allow the LRA rebels scattered in southern Sudan to cross over to Ri-Kwangba, one of two South Sudan assembly points. The LRA delegation in Juba, formally presented Otti's request to the mediator this afternoon, after peace talks resumed. Read more at The Monitor.

The Sudanese government in Khartoum has criticised President Museveni's seven-hour visit on Saturday to Juba, calling it "a diplomatic breach". The Sudanese government spokesman Ali al-Sadek said, "Sudan is still one country, and any head of state coming on the Sudanese soil must first come to Khartoum, meet the President, then meet the first vice-president." According to Kampala, Museveni traveled to Juba to salvage the strained peace talks. However, his meeting with the LRA delegation was short and tense. "I would not call you LRA in normal circumstances," the President is said to have told the rebels. According to Aye, the president was quite frank in his opinions. "He bluntly said we are not in touch with reality in Uganda, we are not informed and still stuck to the Uganda of 20 years ago,'' Aye said. The President later moved to shake the hand of the LRA deputy delegation head Josephine Apia. Apia reportedly stunned the entire room when she feigned a handshake while avoiding the President's hand. The meeting reportedly lasted only five minutes. Read more at The Monitor.

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), the lead opposition political party, intends to move a motion in parliament for a resolution unblocking the ICC indictments against LRA leaders. The FDC said whereas there is no better way to peace in the north than through peace talks, the indictments had proven a major hurdle. FDC President Kizza Besigye wrote to South Sudan president Salva Kiir and Ugandan President Museveni, urging continued support for the peace process. The statement also urged the LRA to get back to the assembly points agreed upon with the Government. Read more at The New Vision.

President Museveni has met negotiators from the LRA for the first time in an attempted effort to revive stalled talks. However, a LRA spokesman said the meeting lasted only five minutes and the Ugandan president had been abusive. The LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayo said that Mr Museveni "only called us uninformed Ugandans who have been out of the country for 20 years. He also said other things which were all abusive - indicating that he is never interested in peace talks." Uganda's Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem denied that Museveni had been abusive. After addressing the two negotiating teams, Museveni went to shake hands with the LRA representatives but was refused. Read more at BBC News.

President Museveni yesterday for the first time met the LRA delegation in Juba in what was described as an attempt to salvage the faltering peace talks. Museveni met the entire LRA delegation in a closed-door meeting at National Assembly House, the home of the South Sudan Parliament. A Uganda government source who attended the heated meeting told Sunday Monitor that Museveni spoke angrily at the rebels and often rebuked them. Museveni later addressed South Sudan MPs and government ministers at the same venue, but this meeting was open to the press. "The problem of Kony is a confluence of the problems of Uganda and Sudan," Museveni said. He said Kony was a product of Uganda's gun politics and the chauvinism of the Sudanese Arab political leaders. The President praised Gen. Kiir, saying the idea of peace talks was entirely his initiative. "I would like also to salute Vice President Riek Machar. He is a very patient and persistent person who knows how to deal with unserious people like the LRA. If it were me,’’ he said, his voice trailing off in laughter. "We have generally defeated Kony. That's why he and Otti are in Garamba Forest. Do you think they are there for tourism?" Museveni said neither the government of the DR Congo nor the United Nations peacekeeping mission there were helping Uganda to hunt Kony down. "That's why we think the peace talks will help us. The Uganda government pledges full support for the peace talks," Museveni said. Read more at The Daily Monitor.

The Daily Monitor has published a staff editorial, titled simply and boldly "Save Juba Peace Process." They write, "All parties to the Juba peace process owe it to the long-suffering internally displaced persons in northern Uganda to collectively salvage the limping talks." With the reports of attacks in south Sudan and President Museveni's trip to Juba this weekend, the Monitor's editorial is a sober reminder of the stakes of peace talks. Read the full editorial at The Monitor.

Gladys Oroma, Uganda-CAN news correspondent, reports that the chairman of the Acholi Parliamentary Group has said the LRA High Command is divided on the length for and future of peace negotiations. John Livingston Okello, MP in Kitgum District, said last Saturday that he held a teleconference with LRA leaders Kony and Otti for over two hours. He said that while Kony wants negotiations to continue for one year, Otti says the process should be extended for two. He further said that the chief mediator, Dr. Riek Machar is greatly frustrated with delays in talks and miscommunication within the Lord's Resistance Army. Machar has advised the LRA not to drag the talks up to July 2007 when the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM) would be held in Kampala because President Museveni would not allow negotiations then.

The LRA has confirmed that their rebels killed a Ugandan officer in neighbouring southern Sudan. "Ugandan soldiers, as usual, attacked our men," said Godfrey Ayoo, an LRA spokesman at peace talks. "In self-defence we killed their captain and that would not have happened if they has not provoked us." The UPDF has rejected this, saying the captain was alone when he was shot by the rebels. Read more at Reuters.

The UPDF has accused LRA rebels of killing a Ugandan officer in southern Sudan, further straining peace talks in Juba. Uganda's military spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said a Ugandan captain was shot dead by rebels on Tuesday by the River Nile. "This officer was just walking ... when he was attacked," Kulayigye said. "This is a blatant violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement." The UPDF has accused the LRA of trying to cross the Nile to regroup and rearm on the Sudan-Congo border. In the last week, there have been accusations of military action by both sides. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

If these reported incidents are true, this shows a failed responsibility to the people of northern Uganda, whom have placed great hopes in the Juba peace process as a way to end the 20-year war. It further shows a failed responsibility by the international community, especially the U.S. government, to provide necessary support to peace talks for confidence-building and accountability. Yet there is still time to take action to bolster this process and support peace in northern Uganda.

President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed he will go to Juba over the weekend to consult with southern Sudanese mediators at the peace talks. Read more at BBC News.

A joint probe team has started an inquiry into claims that the Ugandan army attacked LRA fighters thrice this week, stalling peace talks in Juba. A joint team of UPDF, SPLA and LRA officers yesterday left to investigate these claims. "We are leaving right now for Birinyang, Mangala and Jabol on a fact-finding mission following the alleged clashes,” said Maj. Gen. Wilson Deng, the chairman of the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team. The LRA delegation has since called for a thorough investigation into the alleged clashes or else they abandon the negotiating table for good. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA said on Monday it would propose the encampment of the Ugandan government troops deployed in southern Sudan as a way of guaranteeing the rebels’ security when they reassemble in designated areas under a truce agreement. Ayena Odongo, legal adviser to the LRA’s delegation said, "We will propose that the revised agreement is structured in a manner that will guarantee the safe exit of the LRA in the undesirable event that the talks fail. There should be special assembly points for the UPDF as there is for the LRA in southern Sudan because it will be difficult to monitor troops on the move." The government has urged the rebels to reassemble in neutral sites, assuring them that their security was guaranteed. Read more at the UN's IRIN News.

President Museveni will this weekend fly to the southern Sudan capital of Juba to fufill his earlier vow to confront the LRA delegation at the peace talks, a top government official has disclosed. However, the President's visit comes at a tense time as the LRA delegation walked out of negotiations yesterday, claiming the UPDF had attacked rebels in three separate incidents. The military exchange has elicited demands by the LRA of international sanctions against Kampala. "We will not proceed with this negotiation until we get a thorough investigation and a statement from the government of Uganda," said LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayo. "We want the international community to exert pressure on Uganda to stop violating the truce or even better to withdraw completely from South Sudan." The UDPF has denied these accusations. Read more at The Monitor.

The Lord's Resistance Army has said a number of its fighters were attacked in southern Sudan by UPDF troops despite ongoing peace talks. The LRA team at the talks in Juba said the alleged incident at dawn on Monday was "a severe provocation" which could threaten the negotiations. Negotiator Godfrey Ay said LRA fighters were attacked as they headed to one of two safe havens in southern Sudan. He said two fighters had sustained life-threatening injuries in the attack on Birinyang in southern Sudan. Yet, UPDF spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said he knew of no such incident taking place. Read more at BBC News.

The Ugandan government has insisted that LRA rebels must assemble at the designated sites at Owiny Ki-Bul and Ri-Kwangba as agreed upon under the truce signed in August. This follows the release of a report by the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team (CHMT) that revealed that only 45 rebels had assembled at Owiny Ki-Bul on September 14 and disappeared 15 days later after receiving food from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). In the report, the UPDF was also accused of breaching the cessation of hostilities agreement by escorting journalists and diplomats to Pajok on September 27 and 28 enroute to Owiny Ki-Bul to verify whether the LRA had assembled there or not. The CHMT confirmed the entry into Sudan of two UPDF armoured vehicles, two Buffaloes, four pick-up trucks, a Jiefang truck and a busload of journalists and diplomats on the trip organised by the Uganda Media Centre. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA’s second-in-command Vincent Otti has said he wants to join the UPDF with his rank of Lt. General if a comprehensive peace agreement is signed with the government. He said that the entire process of reintegrating the LRA into the UPDF after the signing of the peace pact should see all his commanders benefiting. "I also want all my other commanders too to maintain their ranks. Why shouldn't they get their ranks? They have fought and struggled for these ranks. Our promotion to all of them was genuine and based on braveness, smartness, intellectual capability, strength and political knowledge," Otti said. He said the LRA is not a force to be underestimated as some government soldiers take it. The head of the Uganda peace delegation to Juba, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, said Otti’s demands would be discussed. Read more at The Monitor.

On Friday, chief mediator Riek Machar said that both the LRA rebels and Ugandan government have violated the cessation of hostilities truce. His statement came after an independent monitoring group confirmed that nearly 800 LRA fighters had left one of the two assembly points designated under the truce. "Both of them have violated. The army moved a company (of soldiers) too close to Owiny-Ki-Bul, which was a violation," Machar said. "We have deployed an SPLA battalion to protect them. We are telling them to go back — they are safe," he said. Read more at The New Vision.

The Daily Monitor is reporting today that the prospects of reaching a peaceful deal brightened in Juba after the LRA dropped a few more demands here. The rebels have backed off from the demand that two armies, one for the north and another for the rest of the country be created. They also agreed to drop a demand for a federal northern Uganda and settled instead for the current regional tier proposition of government. Read more at The Monitor.

The LRA's second-in-command Vincent Otti has said he is aware of a discreet plot by the government to have him and his overall commander Joseph Kony arrested as soon as they leave their hideout in southern Sudan. Otti vowed yesterday to fight for his life if anyone attempted to execute the ICC arrest warrants against him or any of the rebel top leadership. Capt. Paddy Ankunda, the government peace team publicist, scoffed at the accusation. He said, "Our commitment to talk to them and protect them is not in question. They better take advantage of that and come out of the bush. It is only Uganda and South Sudan that can guarantee their security." Otti also reiterated yesterday LRA commitment to peace talks. Read more at The Monitor.

The Refugee Law Project, Human Rights and Peace Center and Faculty of Law at Makerere University have co-authored a press statement urging the Government of Uganda to show more commitment to necessary truth-telling and reconciliation for sustainable peace. They write, "We note with dismay that the proposed budget allocated to reconciliation activities is barely 2% of a total proposed budget, nowhere near sufficient to fund some of the proposed initiatives, let alone to set up a national process." The statement continues, "The greatest risk inherent in the Juba talks is that any positive outcome will be portrayed by the Government and understood by a large number of Ugandans as a 'victors' peace.' This would provide at best a shaky foundation for lasting peace...To demonstrate that the Government does not view the peace talks in a narrow and conclusive way, and that Juba is the beginning rather than the end of a national peace process, there is need for a broader process that addresses and provides closure on the many legacies of past conflict and reduces the potential of buried conflicts resurfacing. The organizations recommend that while local mechanisms of restorative justice may be used for reintegration and accountability in Acholiland, all national stakeholders must consider a Truth and Reconciliation Process to address underlying grievances.

Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, chief of the Ugandan delegation in Juba, has said the government stand that indicted LRA leaders be arrested and prosecuted by the ICC does not contradict the peace process. Rugunda described the ICC as an ally of the Government. He said Uganda filed the case against the LRA rebels and was glad that the ICC investigated. "The government of Uganda has no authority to go to the ICC and withdraw the indictments. The indictments are court procedures. LRA should be advised that they are taking an erroneous line to give ICC conditions. They should drop it," Rugunda said yesterday. Rugunda said it was in the interest of peace and absence of allies in the region to implement the indictments that the Ugandan government has offered amnesty to the indicted rebels. "The LRA need to be advised that the position of government is simple and straight forward: It’s only when we are armed with a peace agreement and LRA has gone through the mato-oput process that the ICC can be asked to review the indictments," he said. Read more at The New Vision.

The LRA delegation yesterday eased its demand for the complete dissolution of the country’s military as peace talks were set to resume once again. Dropping its call for the disbandment and reformation of the UPDF, the LRA instead called for its restructuring and for a grace period for its fighters to disarm or integrate. The rebels also renewed their insistence on returning Uganda to a federal system with broad autonomy for its various regions. Read more at The New Vision.

The Daily Monitor is reporting that the Ugandan government has written a confidential letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC), conveying its firm desire to have indicted LRA leadership apprehended and prosecuted for war crimes. The letter was a response to a request from the ICC for a "status report." This comes a day after LRA leaders said they would not sign a final peace agreement until ICC arrest warrants were withdrawn. On Friday last week, ICC Chief Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo presented a status report to the Court's Pre-Trial Chamber, and told the bench of three top judges that "importantly" there has been no request to the Office of the Prosecutor for a withdrawal of the LRA arrest warrants. Read more at The Monitor.

Uganda-CAN first of all urges the media to use caution when reporting on such news as a misinterpretation of parties' statements or actions could fuel unnecessary tension. To the parties, Uganda-CAN reiterates its call to not forget the victims' needs and wishes. A true commitment to peace demands fully engaging the historic opportunity present in the Juba peace talks. These talks are widely considered to be the best opportunity in over a decade to end the war and protect civilians.

The United Nations has set about $4.8 million to sponsor the peace talks between the LRA and the government in Juba. The fund will also facilitate monitoring of the cessation of hostilities. Launching the Juba initiative Fund at the UN Headquarters in New York on Friday, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland said the peace process represents "the best and most serious opportunity" to end the conflict that has raged in the north since 1986. "The United Nations is firmly behind the peace process in Juba," Egeland said. Read more at The New Vision.

The army will not upset the Juba talks, army chief Gen. Aronda Nyakairima has said. "We are investing everything to ensure that the peace talks succeed. We are working hard to deliver peace to the people of northern Uganda," Aronda said yesterday. Aronda refuted reports that the UPDF had resumed war against the LRA. "There is no war, no UPDF has been shot, and no LRA has been shot. Only one LRA was found and was handed over to the local authorities," he said. He said normal operations had resumed in the north to ensure security for the returning IDPs. Read more at The New Vision.

LRA deputy leader Vincent Otti said on Wednesday that LRA rebels will defend themselves against any army attack in northern Uganda, but remain committed to peace talks. "If the LRA collide with the UPDF (Ugandan army), they will fight. That is what the UPDF wants. But for us, we don't want to fight, we want to talk," Otti told Reuters by satellite telephone from the bush near the Sudan-Congo border. Uganda-CAN continues to urge both parties to show restraint and use the negotiations in Juba as a forum to settle confusion and disputes. The Juba process has created pockets of security in northern Uganda for the first time in over a decade; it would be a great blunder for one or both of the parties to destroy that.

Peace negotiators in Juba were yesterday expected to meet face-to-face to discuss a harmonized paper on Agenda No. 2 and comprehensive solutions to causes of the war. Both the LRA and the Government team were upbeat before entering the talks venue to respond to a refined ‘mediators’ second draft. LRA spokesman Obonyo Olweny said, "We want to assure all the people of Uganda, especially those affected by the war in the north and east, we are back on track with serious negotiations," he said. Agenda No. 2, comprehensive solutions to causes of the war, has sub-themes: participation in national politics and institutions, economic and social development of the north and IDP resettlement. Read more at The New Vision.

A fact-finding team has left one of the assembly points, Owiny Ki-Bul, without establishing the presence of the LRA rebels in the area. The team came to verify complaints by both the LRA and the Ugandan government over alleged violations of a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed on 26 August in Juba. "Security has been of concern. There has been an absence of security and the LRA force here has taken this into consideration," the head of the LRA monitoring team, said on Tuesday. The LRA has accused the UPDF of surrounding its troops at Ngomoromo and Puger, south of Owiny Ki-Bul, at Parajok and Palutaka, east of Owiny Ki-Bul, as well as other areas near the assembly point. The monitoring team left today for Palutaka, where they will seek to verify the LRA's claim that the UPDF had deployed in the area. On Monday, the monitoring team found a small camp that had been abandoned by the LRA rebels some four kilometres before Owiny Ki-Bul. "They left in a hurry on Wednesday," Julius Onyala Samuel, the local chief said. Read more at Reuters AlertNet.

Gulu LC5 chairman Nobert Mao and Lira district NRM chief Sam Engola have accused the LRA delegation of delaying peace for the north. Sources at a closed meeting attended by the LRA team, mediators and observers over the weekend said Mao was incensed when the rebels’ representatives asked for a two-week break. Mao reportedly said the LRA delegation seemed not to be executing what LRA leader Joseph Kony asked them to. Sources said tempers flared when Mao asked the LRA team to table documents which elaborate "core convictions of the LRA." He told them that, "if these peace talks fail, I will tell people in the north that we didn’t sign because of Ayena, Ayoo and Ojul. They are putting personal interests," the source said. Read more at The New Vision.

Acholi MPs left yesterday for Ri-Kwangba to meet LRA chief Joseph Kony. Led by Livingstone Okello-Okello, the MPs were on a mission to prevail on Kony and his commanders to continue with the Juba talks. The delegation includes the leader of the opposition in Parliament, Prof. Ogenga Latigo, Reagan Okumu, Michael Nyeko Ocula, Simon Oyet, Judith Franca Akello, Odonga Otto, Betty Aol Ocan and William Nokrach. The trip is sponsored by the Government of Southern Sudan. In a related development, the LRA’s deputy chief, Vincent Otti, has warned of resumption of fighting if the peace talks collapse.
Otti yesterday said, "If the peace talks fail because of UPDF activities in Southern Sudan, as they are currently doing, we shall resume our military campaign against the Government and the UPDF. And the LRA should not be blamed." Read more at The New Vision.

The Ugandan delegation to the Juba peace talks released a statement Thursday that assures the LRA that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will not retain power indefinitely. Museveni was elected to a third term as president in February 2006 after spearheading efforts to have constitutional constraints on presidential term limits lifted. The Ugandan delegation's position was released along with responses to a number of other concerns the LRA delegation had concerning a comprehensive peace and end of political marginalization in northern Uganda. Read more at The Monitor.

Salva Kiir, the President of South Sudan, has ordered the deployment of one battalion of Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers at Owiny-Ki-Bul to provide security for assembling LRA fighters. Sources said that this would allay LRA fears that their assembling fighters are besieged and likely to be attacked by the Ugandan army. Read more at The New Vision.