Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has appointed a new member onto its negotiation team as the peace talks with the government reach what it called a crucial stage.

Dr James Obita, a member of the LRA who has been living in Britain, has been appointed the rebel's new technical adviser for the talks in Juba, southern Sudan.

"The appointment of Obita takes immediate effect. We hope that it shall bring a steady road map towards a comprehensive peace agreement," Vincent Otti, the LRA's second in command was quoted by Daily Monitor on Thursday as saying.

The LRA and the Ugandan government are currently negotiating a peace deal, under the mediation of the government of southern Sudan, aimed to end its two decade insurgency in northern Uganda.

"The peace talks have reached a crucial stage. The plight of the Internally Displaced Persons in northern Uganda and the seriousness of the LRA to talk peace have added an urgent need for the LRA to enhance its negotiating process in Juba," said a statement from the LRA high command.

"As a result the current international and regional developments, there was need for the appointment of James Alfred Obita who was LRA's foreign secretary from 1994 to the negotiating team in Juba."

It is not clear if the LRA with this new appointment will go back to the negotiating table after they withdrew last week in protest of the killing of three of its fighters allegedly by the Ugandan military.

The LRA has also welcomed the move by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to appoint Joachim Chissano, the former president of Mozambique, as UN's envoy for northern Uganda, which was described by Otti as a way of increasing chances for real peace in the region.

Meanwhile, the country's opposition party Uganda People's Congress (UPC) has urged the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional body that brings together seven eastern African countries, to join the peace negotiations.

The UPC said now that the talks have been internationalized, IGAD of which Uganda is a member, should be involved in the peace process, given the necessary incentives it can provide for other countries active in resolving conflicts in the continent to participate as co-mediators and observers.

Source: Xinhua