Uganda rebels accuse army of attack, talks in doubt

KAMPALA, Oct 16 (Reuters) Ugandan rebels accused the army of opening fire on their fighters in southern Sudan today, critically wounding two of them and threatening to derail a landmark truce aimed at ending one of Africa's longest wars.

Uganda's military rejected the allegation and said the guerrillas of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) had clashed with a local Sudanese militia instead.

''A battalion of 200 to 500 (Ugandan) soldiers attacked our soldiers in the night and this morning,'' said Godfrey Ayoo, the deputy LRA spokesman at ongoing peace talks in southern Sudan.

''Two of our soldiers were left with life-threatening injuries.

We are not proceeding with negotiation until we have a clarification of this,'' he told Reuters by telephone.

Ugandan army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said troops were deployed in the general area where the LRA said the fighting took place, but denied there had been any shots fired.

''There is no truth in it at all. We have not had any clashes with the LRA,'' Kulayigye said. He said he had reports that a local Sudanese militia had clashed with the rebels.

A truce between the government and LRA signed in August had raised hopes one of Africa's most vicious wars was nearing an end.

But sabre-rattling and accusations of truce violations on both sides have strained talks to end a two-decade insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted nearly 2 million more in northern Uganda.

Under the truce, the rebels had to assemble at two places in south Sudan -- Owiny-Ki-Bul, on the Ugandan border and Ri-Kwangba, on the Congolese border, near the LRA leadership's jungle hideout -- while peace talks continued in the south Sudanese capital Juba.

Though some 800 rebels were reported to have gathered at Owiny-Ki-Bul, many apparently fled after the LRA accused the army of surrounding them at the assembly point.

A report by independent ceasefire monitors released last week found evidence both sides had violated the truce: the rebels by failing to gather, and the Ugandan army by deploying too close to their meeting points.

Ayoo said about 60 LRA fighters were returning to Owiny-Ki-Bul, but were ambushed on the way by the Ugandan army at Birinyang, southeast of Juba. The LRA returned fire, he said.

''It was a trap and an attempt to wreck the peace process in Juba,'' Ayoo said.

During their insurgency the LRA became notorious for their brutal attacks on civilians: killing villagers, slicing body parts off survivors and kidnapping thousands of children to serve the cult-like group as fighters, porters and sex slaves.

Analysts say a breakdown of trust between the two sides has left the stop-start talks in jeopardy.

The army and observers fear the LRA only signed the truce to win time to regroup, while the LRA fears the government will turn them over to the International Criminal Court which has indicted five top commanders for war crimes.

Reuters SAM VV2254