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Uganda's Rebels Walk Out of Peace Talks With Government


Ugandan rebel negotiators have walked out of peace talks aimed at ending more than 20 years of insurgency in northern Uganda.

Representatives from the government and the Lord's Resistance Army say the rebels left Thursday's talks in the southern Sudanese town of Juba after their demands for government cabinet posts were not met.

Earlier this week, the two sides signed a deal to allow suspected war criminals to be tried in Ugandan courts, rather than the International Criminal Court.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the agreement, but Amnesty International objected. The London-based human rights group said the accord suggests the government will not honor its obligations under a prior agreement to arrest and surrender LRA members wanted by the ICC.

The new agreement calls for LRA rebels who committed severe crimes to be tried in Uganda's High Court, and those accused of lesser crimes to be tried through northern Uganda's traditional justice system.

LRA leader Joseph Kony is one of five senior figures in the group wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The ICC warrants have been a sticking point in the talks, with the rebels demanding they be dropped as part of any peace deal.

The insurgency in northern Uganda has killed thousands of people and displaced more than one million others, although many of the displaced have gone home since a ceasefire was signed in 2006.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

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