Kampala - The deputy leader of Ugandan rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is preparing to give himself up, newspaper reports said Thursday.

Okot Odhiambo is in negotiations to give himself up to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in return for amnesty, government-owned newspaper The New Vision reported.

"We are in direct communication with Odhiambo, who has announced that he has defected and is seeking amnesty in Uganda," The New Vision quoted IOM's chief of operations in Uganda, Jeremy Haslam, as saying.

"IOM is engaged in this process to support the safe and orderly extraction and repatriation of Odhiambo's group," he added.

Neither the IOM nor the Ugandan government and military officials could be reached for comment on the report, which says the rebel commander has defected with scores of other fighters.

Odhiambo was wounded during the recent military offensive by Ugandan, Congolese and southern Sudan forces against the LRA in north-east DR Congo.

The joint forces began striking at the LRA mid-December after the rebels declined to sign a final peace treaty to end their rebellion after nearly three years of delicate negotiations.

Human rights and UN organizations say that the LRA has massacred over 600 civilians since the offensive began

The LRA insisted it would sign the treaty only if the ICC removed arrest warrants against their leaders.

The rebels waged a decades-long war in Uganda's northern region, killing thousands and displacing up to 2 million.

They are also accused of abducting tens of thousands of children, whom they forced to fight or serve as sex slaves.

The LRA fled to Congo's Garamba National park in late 2004, from where they continued to unleash atrocities on civilians in the area and across the borders in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for five LRA commanders, including the group's leader Joseph Kony in 2005.

The five men have never been arrested, but two of them have since died, including former LRA deputy leader Vincent Otti, who was killed on Kony's orders late in 2007. (dpa)