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Uganda peace deal to be signed April 5
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Mar 26, 2008 - 7:14:15 AM

Uganda peace deal to be signed April 5

JUBA, Sudan (AFP) — The Ugandan government is to sign a peace deal with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on April 5 to end one of Africa's longest running conflicts, chief mediator Riek Machar said Wednesday.

Machar announced the date at what he said was the last day of formal negotiations in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba as rebel and government delegations signed and exchanged an implementation schedule of the agreement.

"This is the last day and night for formal negotiations," Machar, who is also the vice president of the government of southern Sudan, told the delegations.

The Lord's Resistance Army has waged 20 years of war in northern Uganda and is notorious for raping and mutilating civilians, enlisting child soldiers and massacring thousands.

A ceasefire was struck in August 2006, paving the way for peace talks in Juba that have dragged on for more than a year and a half.

"We will implement everything that we have committed to in the agreements that we have signed," said Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, who heads the Ugandan government delegation.

The rebels, however, voiced doubts that Kampala would fully implement the deal.

"Signing the peace agreement and implementing the peace agreement are two different things," said the leader of the LRA negotiating team David Matsanga.

He said failure to implement the agreement could lead to another rebellion.

Aid agencies estimate that more than 1.5 million people have been displaced during the war. Under the final peace agreement, the government will resettle the displaced.

The government has previously said it has been given assurances by the LRA that its veteran leader Joseph Kony would attend the signing in Juba.

But the group's chief negotiator has since said that the rebel leader will not come out of hiding unless a war crimes arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court is lifted.

Kony is currently believed to be hiding in the Central African Republic.