KAMPALA (AFP) — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday accused rebel supremo Joseph Kony of not taking peace talks seriously, pointing to reports that he killed the Lord's Resistance Army deputy commander.
Museveni's remarks come after numerous reports have claimed that Kony killed Vincent Otti -- who was key in launching the talks in July 2005 -- for allegedly spying.
Although the reports have not been independently confirmed, they have posed a threat to the fitful peace process.
"He killed Otti. Who is he? Those that he is killing are Ugandans ... (this) indicates he is not ready for peace," Museveni said in a statement released by his office.
"Although Otti had his own mistakes, he did a lot for the peace talks, like convincing Kony to talk to the United Nations envoy for peace and former president of Mozambique, Joachim Chissano," the statement reported Museveni as saying in northern Uganda.
Chissano was in the region last week in a bid to breath life into the talks that have not resumed since last May.
No resumption date has been fixed but the UN expects delegates to return for face-to-face talks in the south Sudan capital Juba later this month or early next month.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has suffered setbacks in recent months with the surrender of top commanders and Otti's unknown fate, though presumed dead, dampening hopes of an end to the two-decade conflict.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which has indicted five LRA commanders including Kony and Otti, has refused to lift the indictments despite calls by northern Ugandan elders and some government officials.
Kony has vowed never to sign a final peace agreement unless the ICC indictments are lifted.
The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead as well as 1.8 million displaced, out of a total population of 2.7 million in northern Uganda, where the militia had engaged in enslaving, torturing, raping and murdering civilians.
Aid groups say the talks, though foundering, have resulted in improved security in the region, where human rights groups have accused both sides of atrocities.
The LRA, which initially claimed they were fighting for the establishment of a government based on Biblical theology, has now accepted to sit down with the government and address economic and political marginalisation.
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