Ugandan rebel seeks peace talks

The army claims Operation Iron Fist has crushed the LRA

The reclusive leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army has telephoned a radio talk show to say he is ready for peace talks.

Local officials in Uganda said that Joseph Kony unexpectedly phoned Mega FM in the northern town of Gulu on Saturday evening.

Joseph Kony (r) has led a 15-year rebellion

The Ugandan army has offered an $11,000 reward for information leading to the capture or killing of the rebel leader, whose group is feared for its brutality and cruelty.

And earlier this month, the army said an operation launched this year had all but wiped out the LRA and more than half of the 3,000 rebel troops had been killed.

The LRA has been conducting a campaign of violence since 1987.

The rebel leader, who has never appeared in public, said he was in northern Uganda but would not disclose his precise location.

"I want genuine peace talks with government. I initiated a ceasefire but it is government which seems to work against peace," Kony said on the radio station.

Image tarnished

Kony denied the LRA was responsible for atrocities committed in northern Uganda, saying the army was to blame for killings and attacks in the region.

Thousands of civilians have been abducted

"Some of the killings are being carried out by government agents bent on tarnishing the image of LRA," he said.

He also accused the government of "mishandling" earlier talks with the rebel group.

Gulu Resident District Commissioner Max Omeda confirmed that the speaker was Mr Kony.

"I recognised his voice because we lived together when he came to our camp in 1992," Mr Omeda told AFP news agency by telephone from Gulu.

LRA

Kony and his commanders are believed to be hiding in southern Sudan and northern Uganda.

But the army says a three-year-old amnesty offer is still open to the rebel leaders.

The LRA has been demanding that Uganda be ruled according to the Biblical Ten Commandments.

But it has kidnapped thousands of children for use as fighters or sex slaves.