Kampala - Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony was Saturday expected to sign a peace deal to end Uganda's 20-year rebellion although doubts remained whether he would turn up.

Talks to end the rebellion by the Lord's Resistance Army, which left thousands dead and displaced almost two million civilians, began in mid-2006 under the mediation of the southern Sudanese government.

Officials were Saturday waiting for Kony in the jungle village of Ri Kwangba in South Sudan.

Joachim Chissano, Mozambique's former president and the UN's special envoy to the talks, told reporters in Kenyan capital Nairobi on Monday he expected Kony finally sign the peace deal.

However, Kony has failed to turn up to sign the agreement several times before.

The LRA, which is holed up in jungles in the north-east of the Democratic republic of Congo, has insisted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) withdraw arrest warrants before agreeing to peace.

However, the Ugandan government says Kony must sign the deal first before the issue of the ICC can be dealt with.

The ICC issued warrants for five LRA leaders in 2005, accusing them of war crimes that included the recruitment of child soldiers. (dpa)