"A peace process is in sight," deputy minister at the Norwegian foreign ministry Vidar Helgesen told AFP.

During a meeting with Western diplomats last week -- "the first in a very, very long time" -- the heads of the LRA said they were interested in launching a peace process, Helgesen said.

"There are also positive noises coming from the government side," he said, adding: "We hope and expect that the partners' willingness will soon translate into formal peace talks."

The LRA has been fighting government forces in northern Uganda since 1986 to replace President Yoweri Museveni's secular government with one based on the biblical Ten Commandments.

Helgesen refused to "speculate" on when or where peace talks between the warring parties could take place.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne Lene Dale Sandsten meanwhile told AFP that Kampala might decide "this week" on whether to agree to talks with the

In response to a request from Betty Bigombe, the former Ugandan minister in charge of contact with the LRA, Norway has accepted to help facilitate and fund peace efforts in Uganda.

The Scandinavian country, which is already engaged in a number of peace processes around the world, including in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Sudan, is working with Britain, the Netherlands and the United Nations to promote peace in Uganda, Helgesen said.

Fighting between government forces and the LRA in northern Uganda has over the past 18 years caused tens of thousands of deaths, mainly civilian, has led to forced recruitment of thousands of children into the armed forces, and has obliged some 1.6 million people to flee their homes.

The army's first ceasefire, covering a corner of northern Uganda, was announced by President Yoweri Museveni on November 14. It was due to last just a week but has since been extended to December 15.