Nairobi - The notorious Ugandan rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) promised Wednesday that its armed struggle was over, ahead of the latest round of on-off peace talks set to take place this weekend.

"The LRA is not going to fight again," the reinstated head of the group's peace delegation, David Nyekorach Matsanga, told journalists in Nairobi. "(LRA leader Joseph) Kony needs peace."

The meeting between LRA leaders and the peace process's chief mediator, set to take place this weekend, is aimed at clarifying certain issues with the peace deal, Matsanga said.

Kony refused to sign the deal earlier this year, demanding that the International Criminal Court (ICC) withdraw five arrest warrants slapped on its leaders and allow local courts to handle any trials.

The LRA leadership face charges of war crimes, including the forced recruitment of child soldiers.

The ICC warrants are the principle sticking point, although Matsanga also demanded urgent food supplies for "thousands" of LRA soldiers he said were in dire need.

Talks to end the war - which has displaced close to two million people in northern Uganda and left thousands dead, mutilated or abducted by the rebels - began mid-2006 with the mediation of the southern Sudanese government.

However, they appeared to have broken down irretrievably with Kony's decision in April not to sign the agreement.

The group has since been reportedly re-arming and was involved in a battle with southern Sudanese forces in early June, with over 20 people killed.

Matsanga claimed that the LRA was defending itself from southern Sudanese forces he said had been infiltrated by the Ugandan military. (dpa)