By Tim Cocks

GULU, Uganda, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Delegates representing Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels at peace talks have asked war victims to forgive them for atrocities committed during their vicious 20-year insurgency.

The negotiators were speaking on local radio late on Monday, shortly after arriving in the northern town of Gulu for the first time as part of a historic return to the country aimed at reviving discussions to end the conflict.

Gulu was the epicentre of a rebellion led by LRA guerrillas who increasingly targeted civilians from their own Acholi tribe.

Two million people fled their homes and tens of thousands were killed. Meanwhile, the rebels built a reputation for mutilating their victims and kidnapping thousands of children to serve the group as fighters, porters and sex slaves.

"The LRA made plenty of mistakes," Martin Ojul, the head of the LRA delegation, told Mega FM in the local Acholi language.

"I ask forgiveness for what happened to our people."

A ceasefire was agreed at peace talks that began in Juba, neighbouring Southern Sudan, more than a year ago, raising hopes of a conclusion to one of Africa's longest wars.

But LRA leader Joseph Kony and other commanders remain holed up in jungle hideouts in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, fearing international arrest warrants.

Kony and three top deputies are wanted for war crimes by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. They want to negotiate a way out of the indictments, which look to be a major sticking point for any peace deal.

The rebel leaders have said they are willing to undergo local justice and reconciliation procedures in Uganda -- but the ICC insists any trials would have to dish out stiff punishments.

"Let's not look at what happened yesterday, let's look to the future," Ojul told radio listeners in the north. "Let's find a way of waiving the ICC indictments and we can solve all these issues so our commanders can come home and live a normal life."

During their visit to Gulu, the LRA delegates are due to meet Acholi elders, war victims and those displaced by the insurgency for talks about what kind of justice they want the rebels to undergo.

Local leaders say they want the LRA commanders to undergo traditional reconciliation rituals like Mato Oput, where a murderer faces the victim and is effectively forgiven.

Rights groups say that would let the LRA off too lightly.

"What we have come here to do is consult with you people about Mato Oput as a solution," Ojul told Mega FM. (Editing by Daniel Wallis and Dominic Evans)

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