Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has asked the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony, to apologize for the atrocities he has committed in the war- torn north, the state-owned daily New Vision reported on Monday.

The report said Museveni demanded that Kony and his commanders come out of their hideout in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and apologize for their crimes in nearly 20 years.

The LRA and the government are negotiating a peace deal under the mediation of the government of south Sudan.

Museveni warned Uganda would push for Kony's prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he fails to reach a peace agreement with the government team in Juba, south Sudan.

"When the government of southern Sudan said they wanted to mediate, I said it was okay. But we said if he comes out, we can talk to the ICC to remove him from the list of those wanted for the crime against humanity," he said.

The Ugandan government planned to use the traditional justice system to address the LRA atrocities if the rebels sign a peace agreement. Under this system, Kony must compensate the victims.

Museveni, however, said after serious consideration that the government realized Kony did not have money and other things to compensate.

"We have decided that government plus our friends here and outside Uganda will mobilize money to compensate the victims on behalf of the LRA criminals but Kony must apologize, there is no escape from that. He must apologize," the president noted.

The northern Uganda has faced a gruesome rebellion over the past two decades, leaving tens of thousands of people dead and over 1.4 million people homeless.

Source: Xinhua