By Tim Cocks and Jeremy Clark GULU, Uganda, July 14 (Reuters) - A year of talks between Uganda's government and Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has brought relative peace to the north, but the region's war victims are not convinced the conflict is finally over. For two decades, the LRA waged an insurgency with the stated aim of unseating the government in Kampala and ruling Uganda according to the Bible's Ten Commandments. Peace talks that began on July 14 last year in neighbouring southern Sudan have produced a truce and two further agreements. Northern Uganda's refugees remain sceptical, however, pointing out that previous peace efforts collapsed. "We hear the peace talks are meant to be going well, but we've heard that before," said Paul Odokomyero, 43, a resident of one of northern Uganda's congested camps. "What will peace bring? We hope desperately that we will be able to go home, back to our real life." This month, the government and LRA signed phase three of a five-stage peace deal meant to end a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 1.7 million into camps. Officials admit progress has been slow. "It is better we move slowly than sign something that will not bring lasting peace," said chief government negotiator, Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. AMNESTY Phase three of the agreement is supposed to deal with accountability for war crimes in what analysts say is an attempt to placate the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. LRA leader Joseph Kony and four others are wanted by the ICC for crimes like killing civilians, rape, mutilation and abducting children to use as soldiers, but have vowed never to sign a final deal until the court drops the indictments. The government says it can only approach the ICC after a deal is signed and the LRA undergoes local justice in Uganda, although it has offered the LRA leaders an amnesty -- which analysts say the ICC judges are unlikely to accept. Despite this deadlock, peace campaigners are optimistic. "We never thought possible what we have seen this year," said Norbert Mao, chairman of Gulu district, at the epicentre of the conflict. "No one expected the LRA would sign on a dotted line. We are 60 percent of the way down the road." Even if a final deal is reached, aid workers say rebuilding the war-shattered north is a huge task. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have moved back to their homes in anticipation of peace, but they lack water, medicines and basic services that aid agencies provided in the camps. "Even if tomorrow peace is signed, people will need assistance for some time to come," said Oxfam spokeswoman Io Schmid.
