By Francis Kwera
RI-KWANGBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Uganda's fugitive rebelleader Joseph Kony has arrived near the remote Sudan-Congoborder to sign a peace deal on Thursday to end one of Africa'slongest wars, sources involved in the negotiations said.
They said the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander metfamily members on Thursday who were flown in by mediators at aforest clearing in Ri-Kwangba on the frontier. The relativesincluded a sister, an uncle and an ex-wife.
"Kony is at Ri-Kwangba with his bodyguards. He called forhis family members to go there," one source said.
More than a dozen LRA fighters in green camouflage uniformsand armed with AK-47 assault rifles were posted in theclearing, where a big tent was set up for the signing ceremony.
There was no immediate sign of their boss.
But the presence of the elusive rebel leader in the areawas a big boost for long-running peace talks chaired by southSudanese Vice President Riek Machar, who arrived by helicopter.
Ugandan government negotiators led by Internal AffairsMinister Ruhakana Rugunda also flew in.
The signing of a final deal has been delayed before, andcomplicating matters further are International Criminal Court(ICC) arrest warrants for Kony and two of his top deputies.
Prosecutors in The Hague have accused them of committingmultiple war crimes during their two-decade insurgencyincluding rape, murder and the abduction of thousands ofchildren.
Fearing arrest and extradition, the three men neverappeared at the discussions in south Sudan's capital Juba,instead staying hidden at camps deep in Garamba Forest inDemocratic Republic of Congo's lawless northeast.
ARREST WARRANTS
The LRA says Kony will sign on Thursday -- but that it willnever disarm until the ICC drops its indictments.
Under the terms of the peace agreement, the rebels wouldhave a month to gather at Ri-Kwangba for demobilisation. Soeven if he does sign, Kony is expected to vanish back into thebush.
Meanwhile, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is due to inkthe deal at a separate ceremony in Juba on April 15.
His government has said it will only call for the ICCwarrants to be lifted after a final deal is reached. It was notclear whether that meant the rebels have to disarm first too.
The ICC has said its warrants for Kony and the two othercommanders -- Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen -- remainactive. But the U.N. Security Council could ask it to put themon hold if there was a real chance for peace.
Kampala and the rebels have already signed agreementssetting up a special division of Uganda's High Court to dealwith war crimes.
ICC supporters say that only a judicial process deliveringstiff jail terms for grave crimes is an acceptable alternative.
But the court does not want to be seen as the last barrierto peace if talks look like ending a war that killed tens ofthousands of people, uprooted 2 million more in northern Ugandaand ravaged neighbouring parts of south Sudan and easternCongo.
(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Charles Dick)
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