THE leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army Joseph Kony has asked the state to support his family, which he describes as needy.

The request mirrors his growing optimism about the Juba peace process.

The wanted rebel leader on Wednesday expressed previously unlikely sentiments of appeasement and called his adversary of the last 20 years "a good man."

Now, even as the peace process remains stuck in an impasse, Kony is showing the biggest hint yet that he wants a peaceful return home.

At a meeting with Acholi leaders, Kony told his guests that he longed for an opportunity to consult his mother over the decision of his life: to sign or not to sign a peace agreement with the government.

"With due respect, the government should start facilitating my people," Kony told guests at his Nabang headquarters, just inside the DR Congo.

"When some of them come to visit me they look very bad in old clothes. The relatives of the other commanders should also be catered for as a sign that there is someone in government who cares about our families.

"I know it is my mother who will tell me exactly what is happening in Uganda. You, the Acholi leaders [Norbert] Mao, [Walter] Ochora--I know you. But if I die it is my mother who will shed more tears...She will definitely give me the right information," he said.

Kony has not met his mother, Nora Oting, for as long as he has been fighting the NRM government and previous attempts to re-unite the two have not been successful.

The latest attempt in August backfired after Kony's brother, who was set to travel to Garamba with his mother, sought to blackmail the government into releasing his son, who had been remanded for alleged defilement.

"The government is willing [to facilitate a reunion]...but the health of the mother is not good," Ankunda said by phone, adding that Kony's mother is suffering from "old-age ailments". Ankunda said Oting was not likely to make it safely to the Congo.

At the meeting with the Acholi leaders, Kony was flanked by Vincent Otti, Dominic Ongwen, and Okot Odhiambo, all of whom are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC says it still expects the LRA commanders to be apprehended, even as some people think the arrest warrants represent the rebels' biggest source of mistrust for the government.

Rugunda has previously said Kampala will only contact the ICC for a review after the LRA has signed a comprehensive peace accord and accepted to be taken through Mato-oput, a traditional reconciliation ritual among Kony's Acholi tribesmen.

The latest UN Security Council report on Uganda, which details the council's expected course of action, says a decision on the ICC issue will not be taken anytime soon.

"It is unclear what position the Council will take on the justice and reconciliation dilemma and the related issue of arrest warrants from the ICC against the leadership of the LRA.

The issue is complex and it is possible that, for now, members will only be able to agree on a more generic formulation showing support for accountability for those responsible for serious violations of human rights...," the report says. "

Members are aware of the dangers to the Court's credibility and to perhaps long-term stability in northern Uganda if, in practice, what prevails is impunity."

Meanwhile, at his meeting with the Acholi leaders, Kony was informed of his Juba delegation's mistrust of Ochora and Mao, who were attacked by Ayena Adongo and Josephine Apira on their way to visit Kony. Adongo and Apira are on Kony's Juba delegation. They accused Mao and Gulu RDC Ochora of "undermining" their peace efforts.

Reports from Juba say the government has rejected most of the LRA's political demands.