THE rebel LRA will not disarm and its leader Joseph Kony will not sign the final peace agreement next month unless the International Criminal Court lifts the indictments against him, negotiators said yesterday.The LRA's chief negotiator, Dr David Nyekorach-Matsanga, told Daily Monitor in Juba that Kony would not come out of his hideout in the DR Congo as long as the indictments stand. "Kony gave me all the authority to negotiate on his behalf but if the ICC indictments are still in place, he said he would never, I repeat, never assemble," Dr Matsanga said yesterday.
The development comes a day after the rebels rejected a government proposal to sign a peace deal on March 6. They asked for more time to consult Kony.
A ceasefire agreed last Saturday remained with demobilisation as the only outstanding issue to finalise an agreement to end one of Africa's longest wars. Mediators had been forecasting a deal within days. About six heads of State are expected to witness the signing of the final peace deal to end northern Uganda's 21-year war between President Museveni and the LRA.
The government and the LRA debated the ICC issue for about 10 hours yesterday. The talks, said to have hit a stalemate, broke off at 5.30 am.
Kony and two other LRA commanders are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. According to the LRA position paper on the International Criminal Court's indictments; "The Government of Uganda shall request the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution under Chapter 7 of the Charter of the United Nations to defer (for six months) all investigations and prosecutions of the leaders of the LRA. Its only then that... the LRA shall urgently assemble at Ri-Kwangba," the position paper reads in part.
This new demand has angered the government side, which flatly rejected it. "What we agreed on is the bare minimum. How can the Uganda Government go to the UN claiming to prosecute a man who is still on the run?" asked Capt. Chris Magezi, the delegation spokesman. "Uganda cannot make herself a laughing stock before the world. This is a stalemate," added Capt. Magezi.
Both sides have also accused each other of acting in disregard of Agenda Item three on Accountability and Reconciliation, which proposes the setting up of a special division of the High Court to try the LRA leaders. "The government is already violating the agreement we signed," Dr Matsanga claimed.
Former Mozambique President Joachim Chissano spent the entire Tuesday urging both sides to agree.