By Skye Wheeler JUBA, Sudan, June 13 (Reuters) - The chief mediator in Uganda's collapsed peace talks said on Friday he would pursue a final deal with fugitive rebel commander Joseph Kony. South Sudan's Vice-President Riek Machar said preparations for a joint military offensive against Kony's fighters by Uganda, Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo were premature. "Why give up when all that remains is a signature?" said Machar, who chaired nearly two years of talks between Uganda's government and the Lord's Resistance Army guerrillas. "It is too early." He said he hoped to be in contact this week with Kony, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Then he said he wanted more talks with Kampala "to sort the way out". Uganda's two-decade war uprooted 2 million people and also destabilised neighbouring parts of oil-producing southern Sudan and mineral-rich eastern Congo. Most of the LRA's forces now operate out of camps deep in northeastern Congo's lawless Garamba Forest. Machar's talks had returned relative calm to northern Uganda. But hopes were crushed in April when Kony failed to appear on the DRC-Sudan border to sign a final peace deal. Last week, LRA fighters killed 23 people including 14 southern Sudanese soldiers in the same area. DOOR STILL OPEN South Sudan responded by rushing troops to the region. Machar said he wanted an explanation of the attack, but that his door was still open to Kony. "He should talk to me, explain to me what his difficulties are," Machar said. He said part of the border that was designated by the talks as an LRA assembly area would remain a safe haven for the rebels. They were vulnerable to attack outside it, he said, though he warned armies from neighbouring nations against hunting the guerrillas in south Sudan. Analysts believe the type of military offensive being threatened by Uganda, Sudan and Congo carries big risks for the forces involved, and would be likely to fail. "I am not for southern Sudan to be used as a battleground," Machar said. (Writing by Daniel Wallis) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
Refugees who fled the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region walk down a path between shelers at Djabal camp near Gos Beida in eastern Chad, June 12, 2008. Reflecting the violence ...
