Mediator tries to rescue Uganda rebel talks

South Sudan's Vice-President Riek Machar, the chief mediator in Uganda's peace talks, stayed on the remote Congo border yesterday to try to salvage a final deal with fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony.

Hopes of an agreement to end one of Africa's longest wars were dashed after Kony, commander of the Lord's Resistance Army, failed to appear at a planned signing ceremony, stalling nearly two years of tortuous negotiations.

Machar told Reuters he would remain in the frontier hamlet of Ri-Kwangba to see if Kony would meet him.

"I want to speak to him ... and see the next stage in the process," Machar said. "The protocols are signed. We just need to find out (about) his reservations."

Uganda's 22-year civil war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted two million more and destabilised neighbouring parts of south Sudan, which is rich in oil, and eastern Congo, which has large mineral wealth.

The UN envoy to the conflict, Joaquim Chissano, plans to arrive at the border today, 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 Criminal Court, had been due to sign the deal on Thursday. But he first asked mediators to clarify part of the document and then fired the head of his negotiating team.

A retired bishop from Kony's native northern Uganda and an elderly rebel negotiator ventured back into the dense forest yesterday to try to meet the elusive LRA boss.