Grace Matsiko
14 October 2008
Kampala — Sudan has said there must be a time frame within which the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) chief, Joseph Kony must sign the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) with the government.
The South Sudan President, Gen. Salva Kiir told the National Assembly in Juba, on Wednesday, the wait for Kony to sign the peace deal should not be indefinite; an indication by Sudan for the first time it is becoming impatient with the rebel leader.
Gen. Kiir said he has asked the UN envoy for the LRA affected countries, Mr Joachim Chissano and the chief mediator, Dr Riek Machar, to provide him "a definitive time frame for concluding these protracted peace talks so that we could explore other options." "It cannot go on indefinitely of course- we must have other options," Gen. Kiir stressed, according to the Sudan Tribune.
Southern Sudan government-mediated peace talks between Uganda and the LRA rebels. The negotiations began in July 2006 and officially ended in March 2008, but Kony refused to sign the final text of the agreement.
The Tribune quoted Gen. Kiir as saying the LRA continues to be a source of insecurity to "our communities in Western Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria states" of the Sudan.
But Kony, speaking through the LRA peace delegation chairman, Mr David Matsanga said, he was dismayed by Gen. Kiir's "war-talk".
"This morning I was called by Kony to express his disappointment by the war language that is coming out of Uganda and South Sudan," Mr Matsanga told Daily Monitor via satellite link. "He (Kony) told me to inform the world that despite this language he is committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict," he added.
But Kony according to Mr Matsanga, said should Sudan or Uganda attack their bases, the LRA will retaliate and defend themselves.
"The LRA is aware that the peace talks have held on because of support of the chief mediator (Dr Machar) and not because of President Salva Kiir," he added.
Kony failed the mediators in two attempts in April and May this year after trying to persuade him to come out and sign the peace agreement, citing the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments and arrest warrants hanging over his head as an obstacle to peace in northern Uganda.
The rebel leader and his other four colleagues, (two dead) are accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Kony demanded for clarification of the protocol on accountability and reconciliation signed by his peace delegation before he could ink the FPA. But the elusive rebel leader also asks the removal of ICC arrest warrants first before he could sign the final peace deal.
But Gen. Kiir's latest statement follows an earlier one last month by Dr Machar that he talks between the government and the LRA which was concluded in March this year and only awaits the signature of Kony "cannot be renegotiated."
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