The Monitor and New Vision are reporting that the chief mediator Reik Machar, the LRA negotiation team and northern Ugandan leaders have returned to Juba after LRA chief Joseph Kony failed to meet with them. The peace delegation had been waiting since May 10th to meet with the rebel leader in the South Sudan town of Nabanga in an attempt to reinvigorate the stalled peace process. Kony’s failure to show raises further grave doubts about his commitment to the peace process and willingness to sign a final peace agreement. Although the Ugandan government’s official reaction to the failed meeting was to defer to the chief mediator’s advice on how to move the process forward, The Monitor today quoted a “top government official” warning that Kampala is “losing interest in the talks and that may mean other options.” Read more at The Monitor and New Vision.

The New Vision reports that LRA leader Joseph Kony has once again kept his guests in suspense. A team of elders and leaders from northern Uganda have been waiting for him at Nabanga for the last three days, but by press time, the rebel leader had not shown up. Yet, international relations minister Henry Okello Oryem said Kony’s advance team, led by Lt. Col. Opio, the commander of Independent Brigade, was in Ri-Kwangba. "The local leaders and the LRA peace delegation are in touch with Kony and they expect to meet anytime," he said. Security sources yesterday confirmed that between 100 and 200 LRA fighters were moving to the meeting point of Ri-Kwangba.

As we await news of a scheduled meeting between LRA leader Joseph Kony and mediators, the leaders of Uganda and the DR Congo issued a statement this weekend calling on Kony “to sign urgently a final peace agreement.” Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Joseph Kabila of DR Congo met in Tanzania this weekend to discuss security issues and resolve an escalating border dispute on Uganda’s northwest border. Read more at AFP.

A meeting scheduled for yesterday between LRA leader Joseph Kony, chief mediator Reik Machar and leaders from northern Uganda has been rescheduled for today. Reports said that the delay is to allow Kony more time travel to the South Sudan border town of Ri-Kwangba, where he refused to meet with mediators and leaders to sign a final peace agreement last month. The mediators and leaders meeting with Kony hope to explain to him the accountability and reconciliation provisions of the agreement and address his security concerns related to pending the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants for him and two other LRA commanders.

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LRA leader Joseph Kony is expected to meet in person this Saturday with chief peace mediator Riek Machar and local leaders from northern Uganda. Meanwhile, an LRA delegation has been attending a workshop in Kampala with Uganda’s Principal Judge Justice James Ogoola, as well as traditional and local leaders. Speaking on Voice of America, the Government's lead negotiator Ruhakana Rugunda said, "There have been consultations over the implementation of accountability and reconciliation. And this has necessitated the workshop between the traditional leaders from the conflict-affected areas plus the leadership of the judiciary to see how the legal system in Uganda and the traditional conflict resolution system will be used in order to implement the agreement that has been signed on accountability and reconciliation." He called on Kony to take advantage of the remaining window of opportunity and sign the final agreement.

The UN Secretary-General's April 2008 report on Sudan reveals that LRA attacks on civilians in the southern half of the country have been on the rise in recent months. It also states that LRA rebels responsible for the attacks are likely splinter groups operating outside Kony's direct authority. The existence of LRA splinter groups in south Sudan, as well as difficulty concretely verifying responsibility for alleged LRA attacks in eastern DR Congo and southeast Central African Republic (CAR), raises serious questions about what effect a broken chain-of-command within the LRA could have on the Juba peace process and prospects for demobilizing the LRA.

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Reuters reports that LRA leader Joseph Kony is scheduled to meet mediators on Saturday on the Sudan-Congo border and may even sign a final peace deal. However, Kony still wants more details on how Uganda's government plans to use traditional reconciliation rituals to help him avoid prosecution for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. "On May 10 Kony is ready to meet leaders from northern Uganda, the mediator and probably sign the final peace agreement," LRA lead negotiator James Obita said. Meanwhile, today a group of nearly 40 non-governmental organizations released a united statement urging all parties in the conflict not to give up on the peace process. "A failure to secure the peace and resort to a 'military solution' would trigger renewed fears of insecurity and threaten the considerable progress made on the ground in northern Uganda," it said.