By Skye Wheeler and Francis Kwera
RI-KWANGBA, Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudan's Vice PresidentRiek Machar, the chief mediator in Uganda's peace talks, stayedon the remote Congo border on Saturday to try to salvage afinal deal with fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony.
Hopes of an agreement to end one of Africa's longest warswere dashed after Kony, commander of the Lord's ResistanceArmy, failed to appear at a planned signing ceremony, stallingnearly two years of tortuous negotiations.
Machar told Reuters he would remain in the frontier hamletof Ri-Kwangba to see if Kony would meet him.
"I want to speak to him ... and see the next stage in theprocess," Machar said. "The protocols are signed. We just needto find out (about) his reservations."
Uganda's 22-year civil war has killed tens of thousands ofpeople, uprooted 2 million more and destabilised neighbouringparts of south Sudan, which is rich in oil, and eastern Congo,which has large mineral wealth.
The U.N. envoy to the conflict, Joaquim Chissano, plans toarrive at the border on Sunday, Machar said, which might help."We cannot say at this stage who Kony will listen to," he said.
Kony, wanted for war crimes by the International CriminalCourt, had been due to sign the deal on Thursday. But he firstasked mediators to clarify part of the document and then firedthe head of his negotiating team.
A retired bishop from Kony's native northern Uganda and anelderly rebel negotiator ventured back into the dense forest onSaturday to try to meet the elusive LRA boss.
SPOKESMAN "ARRESTED"
The mystery surrounding David Nyekorach-Matsanga, theUK-based negotiator sacked by Kony, deepened on Saturday.
Sources involved in the talks said he was arrested by southSudanese soldiers on his return to Juba airport, where he wassaid to be carrying $20,000 and a still-sealed letter to theLRA leader from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
The contents of the letter -- or what charges Matsangamight face -- were not known, the sources said. Before leavingRi-Kwangba, the negotiator denied he had been fired and said hequit in frustration after Kony failed to meet him.
Matsanga's replacement as spokesman told Reuters later onFriday that Kony was ready to sign, but wanted guarantees ofhis safety and financial security first.
International prosecutors in The Hague accuse Kony and twoof his top deputies of offences including rape, murder and theabduction of thousands of children who were forced to serve asfighters, porters and sex slaves.
Even if he does sign a peace agreement, the LRA says itwill not disarm until the ICC indictments are scrapped.Museveni has said he will only call for the warrants to belifted after a final deal has been reached.
The Ugandan government team said it would return when therebels are ready. But it said that unless circumstancessignificantly change, it had no plans to extend an earliertruce deal between the two sides that expires on Tuesday.
(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Michael Winfrey)
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