KAMPALA, Uganda, July 10 (UPI) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has pushed back the deadline for a successful conclusion to peace talks with the Lord's Resistance Army.
Museveni announced the talks, set to begin Wednesday, could extend into mid-September if a deal is not struck before then, the BBC reported Monday. The talks were originally scheduled to close at the end of July.
The Ugandan government has asked the leader of the rebel army, Joseph Kony, to participate to speed progress.
Museveni has said war crimes charges brought against the rebels by the International Criminal Court will be ignored, and he has offered amnesty to the LRA if the insurgency ends. He said the international warrants will not be honored by his administration because the United Nations did not participate in an attack on the rebel army in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Several previous attempts at negotiation between the two parties have failed, but the latest round of talks, mediated by the south Sudan regional government, are regarded with optimism in the region, the BBC said.
