Uganda rebel Kony breaks silence

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda’s fugitive rebel Joseph Kony has broken months of silence to call for the resumption of peace talks that collapsed in April and prompted three countries to threaten a joint attack on his forces.

However, the Ugandan government said it would not engage in any more negotiations with the rebels.

Kony, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, made the rare comments in a phone call broadcast late on Sunday by Radio France International.

"I want the peace talks to be resumed in Juba. I want to go back to (the) table again ... I don’t want to fight again because talk can end everything," he said.

"There is going to be peace though negotiations and my message to the people of Uganda is that ... I am the one who started the peace talks, so I am not going to refuse anything. I am going to struggle to make sure that this war is solved."

Talks took place over two years in Juba, the capital of south Sudan, between the Ugandan government and representatives of Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The negotiations broke down in April after Kony failed to appear on the Congolese-Sudanese border to sign a peace deal.

Earlier this month, the rebels attacked south Sudanese forces in the area, killing 30 people including 14 soldiers.