Uganda rejects more rebel talks

Mr Kony is thought to want assurances about the ICC warrants

Uganda's government has welcomed the fact that Lord's Resistance Army rebel leader Joseph Kony has approached a UN envoy about the failed peace process.

But Interior Minister Ruhaka Rugunda told the BBC that more talks were not an option as negotiations had ended.

In April, Mr Kony refused to sign a deal agreed to by his representatives after nearly two years of talks.

On Monday, UN special envoy Joachim Chissano said Mr Kony had asked for a chance to hold further discussions.

Mr Chissano, Mozambique's former president, said he hoped a meeting would take place in the next one or two weeks.

Mr Kony led the LRA in a 20-year war against government forces in northern Uganda.

Some two million people have been displaced during the conflict.

Mr Kony and his top commanders are the subjects of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

It is believed Mr Kony refused to sign the peace deal because he wanted assurances about the ICC warrants.

'Elusive'

Mr Rugunda said peace talks had been completed and there were no outstanding issues to resolve.

"General Kony should have signed the peace agreement a few months ago," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. "He was elusive."

"The question of talks is not on the table.

"As you know, the negotiations were completed and all that has been remaining is for Joseph Kony to sign."

The LRA leader is accused of numerous war crimes, including mutilating and abducting civilians and forcing thousands of children into combat.

In June, senior army officers from Uganda, southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic Congo agreed on a plan to launch a joint military operation to crush the LRA, amid reports that Mr Kony was once again preparing for war.