allAfrica.com * LRA Seeks to Meet Museveni Again The Monitor (Kampala) NEWS 11 December 2007 Posted to the web 10 December 2007 By Frank Nyakairu Kampala After 40 days of traversing the country consulting on solutions to the 20-year war in northern Uganda, the LRA peace team wants to meet President Yoweri Museveni again. Their last leg of consultations was in Masindi yesterday. "We want to meet President Museveni and thank him for allowing us to consult in Uganda," said LRA legal adviser Krispers Ayena Odong. The team, which was yesterday travelling to Kampala, was slated to meet the President late last night or today. As the peace team sought to meet President Museveni, it's Press Secretary in Nairobi, Godfrey Ayoo was issuing a statement criticising the President in what could be described as "war threats" issued at the recent regional summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. "Museveni government continues to do everything in its power, covertly and overtly, to destroy the Juba peace process," Ayoo said. "When we met Mr Museveni in Kampala to extend the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement which has so far benefited the people of the north of Uganda so much, he inexplicably agreed to an extension of only one month to end January 2008." Convened by the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, the Addis Ababa meeting gave the LRA up to January 31, 2008 to conclude the peace talks or else get attacked by the Congolese Government forces. "This ill conceived deadline and threat for resumption of hostilities, violence, sufferings and bloodshed was reaffirmed at the US Administration's sponsored and convened meeting in Arusha Tanzania and has further been repeated at the Addis Ababa Summit at which the US administration State Department Secretary Condoleezza Rice was present," LRA's Ayoo said. In the 40 days of consultations, the LRA has left debts amounting to Shs400 million in hotel bills. The rebels' negotiators were bitter yesterday after their head Martin Ojul was briefly held in Masindi. They blamed auditing and accounting firm KPMG for failure to pay the hotel fees. "We are very angry with KPMG, they have failed to pay hotel bills everywhere we have gone. We wonder why they were hired," LRA's Ayena said. The LRA was given $106,100 for consultations in Uganda. This money is managed by KPMG. In Gulu alone, the rebels left a bill of Shs130 million resulting into the arrest of one of the negotiators, Yusuf Okwonga Adek. The consultations under peace talks Agenda item three; Accountability and Reconciliation and their conclusions will be debated by Parliament and a law establishing special crimes courts will be passed. The rebels are wanted in the Hague-based International Criminal Court and have vowed never to sign a final peace deal unless the government can persuade the tribunal to drop the case -- something analysts say is unlikely. LRA chief Joseph Kony and three other commanders are wanted for crimes such as killing civilians and abducting children to use as fighters and sex slaves. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2007 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------