Leading faith-based and civil society organizations on Friday called on the U.S., UK and other international donor countries to intervene to help prevent peace talks between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels and the Ugandan government from failing.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, the U.S.-based organizations including the International Crisis Group (ICG), Oxfam and Refugees International said that in the face of total breakdown, the international community had to end its position of total silence.

"The peace talks could completely disintegrate, yet the international community is responding with silence," said John Prendergast, ICG's senior advisor.

"We could be witnessing the collapse of the best chance we've had to end twenty years of brutal war. International pressure must be applied to ensure the LRA and Ugandan government to adhere to the ceasefire and continue negotiating," he added.

The Juba peace talks, mediated by the South Sudan government, appear on the brink of failing as LRA negotiators have reportedly withdrawn from the talks, accusing the Ugandan army of surrounding hundreds of rebel fighters who have gathered in camps under last month's ceasefire.

However, the Ugandan army has denied the charge.

Sayre Nyce, policy advisor at Refugees International said that the talks and last month's ceasefire were dangling on the edge of a precipice and that international pressure was needed now.

"If the international community does not act now, we could face a breakdown of the peace process and ceasefire," said Nyce. "It is vital the U.S. and other countries support the Sudanese negotiators and apply pressure on both the LRA and Ugandan government to stop the talks from falling apart," Nyce added.

LRA Spokesman Obonyo Olweny said on Thursday that truck-loads of troops and helicopters had crossed the border. Olweny denied Ugandan army accusations that rebel fighters were moving away from the camps where they have gathered.

Regional diplomats said the accusations and counter-accusations are a major blow to the peace talks but Olweny said the rebels remained committed to peace.

"We are in for the talks, we shall not be derailed from the process. It is the government of Uganda and the UPDF [army] who are not wholeheartedly in the peace process," he said.

The Juba talks are seen as the best chance to end the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda, in which the LRA is blamed for displacing about 2 million people, including 935,000 children, and forcing them to live in more than 200 camps across northern Uganda.

"The United States and other governments must apply pressure to help salvage these peace talks. The future of 2 million people in northern Uganda is hanging in the balance. The U.S. must not remain silent," said Michael Poffenberger, associate director of the Africa Faith Justice Network.

Sarah Margon, policy advisor for Oxfam, said that the international community had to act to salvage the talks from collapsing.

"Without jeopardizing the existing content and process of the negotiations, the international community must show open support for the talks to help prevent them from collapsing. The peace process represents the best chance for twenty years to end the violence in northern Uganda," Margon said.

The latest talks mark the third round of the southern Sudanese- mediated negotiations, aimed at ending the decades-long war in northern Uganda.

Another major obstacle to the peace talks is the war crimes charges announced by the Hague-based International Criminal Court against Joseph Kony and three of his senior commanders.

Uganda has said they can have an amnesty if they agree to end their rebellion but the ICC insists that the international arrest warrants still stand. The LRA says they will not lay down their weapons until the warrants are dropped.

Source: Xinhua