Uganda talks hit ceasefire hitch

The negotiations in southern Sudan were adjourned after the two sides failed to agree on an end to hostilities.

The LRA declared a truce a week ago, but then refused to attend more talks until the government followed suit.

The government has called for a comprehensive ceasefire which includes a demand for the rebels to provide details of their forces and deployment.

The government also wants a guarantee the LRA will not use the halt in fighting to reinforce its positions.

The chief mediator in the talks, south Sudan Vice-President Raik Machar, is attempting to get the talks resumed.

The talks, brokered by the government of south Sudan, are considered to be the best chance of ending the 20-year war in northern Uganda.

'Expected event'

The LRA rebels had walked out of the talks on Thursday over the government's failure to join it in its ceasefire.

Ugandan conflict analyst Barney Afako said this stumbling block should not come as a surprise as unrealistic demands by both parties arise in all talks.

"A process of negotiations is always a process of testing each other because you're moving from an extreme position of distrust, and beginning to build trust in a very closed artificial environment of talks," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

Mr Afako says the positions of both parties are not extreme, but they need to agree on a formula for a ceasefire.

"The government wants some of that detail to come out upfront so that you don't have simply a declaration of a cessation [of hostilities] but commanders on the ground don't know how to act," he says.

'Unfair'

Ugandan government spokesman Robert Kabushenga said the government was unsure of the rebels' commitment to peace, as they had breached previous ceasefires and harmed innocent people.

LRA spokesman Obonyo Olweny said that during the recent recess in talks, the rebels had been told by mediators that a unilateral ceasefire was a precondition for the resumption of negotiations.

As a consequence, the rebels had declared a unilateral ceasefire, starting last Friday.

"Therefore we think it is inappropriate for the talks to resume without the government of Uganda declaring a cessation of hostilities," he told the BBC.

Tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict and two million people have been displaced.

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