Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army rebels said on Friday they expect to resume peace talks with the government aimed at ending one of Africa's longest wars once monitors verify the army is not surrounding their fighters. Peace talks taking place in southern Sudan's capital Juba stalled this week after LRA delegates pulled out, accusing Uganda of "deploying heavily" around two meeting points agreed under a landmark truce signed last month. LRA deputy commander Vincent Otti had said his men were encircled by the army at Owiny-Ki-Bul, an assembly point on the Sudan-Uganda border. The Ugandan army denied this and accused the rebels of breaking the ceasefire, saying one of their leaders and his fighters had left Owiny-Ki-Bul. "We are waiting for the monitoring team to visit Owiny-Ki-Bul and verify that the UPDF (Uganda People's Defence Forces) have withdrawn from there. We expect them to go tomorrow," LRA spokesman Obonyo Olweny told Reuters by phone. "As soon as they come back with verification, talks will resume. The UPDF know it is in Uganda's interest not to be there." The government peace team was also upbeat about talks, but denied allegations the army were surrounding the LRA. "We are resuming (talks)," Paddy Ankunda, the government delegation spokesman told Reuters. "We met already but we didn't have dialogue. We are going to meet again," he said.
