Thousands marched on a Ugandan military base carrying white peace flags on Wednesday in support of a truce with northern rebels that may mark the end of one of Africa's longest insurgencies, Reuters reported. Troops were reported to be returning to barracks, and in Gulu town -- the epicentre of the 20-year war -- residents sang and danced their way to the local army headquarters, where an 8-year-old boy handed a white flag to a top Ugandan general. "We are now going to plant white flags on roads and paths across the north to say this is now a secure area ... We are basically claiming the peace," Gulu chairman Norbert Mao told Reuters by telephone. "There is no turning back." Uganda's army has still not named up to a dozen safe routes the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels are supposed to take to camps in south Sudan as part of Saturday's truce deal. But there were no reports of fresh fighting, and the government said the delay should not deter guerrillas in the bush from setting off on foot for the remote border. "Military commanders are still planning where the routes will go, but if LRA members are seen heading in the right direction, obviously no one is going to harm them," said Robert Kabushenga. "We are waiting to see what they do." Nearly two million people have been uprooted in northern Uganda by 20 years of fighting between troops and LRA rebels notorious for killing civilians, mutilating survivors and forcing thousands of abducted children to serve in its ranks. Under a truce agreed on Saturday at peace talks in southern Sudan, rebel fighters in northern Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo have three weeks to gather at two south Sudanese camps as negotiations continue. South Sudanese forces will monitor LRA fighters at the remote camps, which most will take several days to reach. The LRA's elusive leader, Joseph Kony, and his deputy Vincent Otti are expected to arrive last -- if they come at all -- because they fear being arrested and sent to The Hague for war crimes trials at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Guerrilla officials have insisted both men will move to the Sudan camps within the three-week deadline. Experts say the rebels have few choices. They have been cut off from years of support by the Sudanese government, which had used them against its own rebels, and are ringed by states legally obliged to hand them over to the ICC. The ICC has no police force, so is relying on the Ugandans, Sudanese and southern Sudanese former rebels to make arrests. On Monday, the court said it still hoped that would happen, despite a Ugandan amnesty offer under the terms of the truce. Experts say if Kony and Otti leave Congo for the camps, it would be the biggest boost so far for the negotiations, meaning the LRA was ready to sign a comprehensive peace deal. If the talks collapse, Saturday's truce lets the rebels leave the assembly areas peacefully, but diplomats say that is unlikely to happen -- especially if the wanted men are present. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday he welcomed the truce as a "step in the right direction" and that he hoped an end to the fighting could lead to better lives for communities driven from their homes. "The U.N. stands ready to assist in the resolution of the conflict ... and will continue doing its utmost to mobilize resources so that people suffering from the violence can receive much-needed assistance," Annan's spokesman said.
