Ugandan Peace Talks to Continue Despite Government Killing of Rebel Commander

VOA News - Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army says it will continue peace talks with the government, despite the killing of a top rebel commander Friday. L.R.A. representatives are lamenting the death of their third-in-command, Raska Lukwiya, but say they plan to resume peace talks in Juba, Sudan, the capital of southern Sudan's regional government.

Ugandan army officials announced Sunday they had ambushed and killed the rebel commander in the country's Kitgum district. Lukwiya was one of five rebel leaders charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. The I.C.C. said Monday it is seeking confirmation of Lukwiya's death. The court says Lukwiya was the L.R.A's army commander in early 2004, when the rebels carried out what the I.C.C. calls their most deadly attacks on civilians in northern Uganda. The rebel delegation stormed out of the peace talks last Wednesday after the Ugandan government refused to join rebels in declaring a ceasefire. The government says any truce would have to be a part of a final peace agreement. The talks in southern Sudan are aimed at ending the rebels' 20-year insurgency. The fighting has killed thousands of Ugandan civilians and displaced more than two million from their homes.