When Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony failed to sign a final peace agreement with the Ugandan government on April 10, hopes of ending one of Africa's longest conflicts were seriously dashed. Now media reports suggest that peace in the entire Great Lakes region might also be at risk.

The Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) says that even though they are supposed to be disarming under a peace agreement, Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) seem to be preparing for war, rather than peace.

The feared LRA is building up its military capacity, according to IWPR, and reports of a fresh wave of civilian abductions suggest that Kony is looking to replace troops lost through surrenders, captures and defections.

With civilians from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), south Sudan, and the Central African Republic believed to be among those kidnapped and forced into military training, the rebel group seems to be changing direction, the IWPR says.

"Many analysts say that while the LRA has ostensibly remained committed to the peace process, it has in fact been actively preparing for war. They fear that by absorbing hundreds of new conscripts from three different countries, who speak local languages and are familiar with the terrain, the group could reconstitute itself as a stronger regional force, rather than a specifically Ugandan group," the news charity reports.

Hopes that Ugandan authorities and rebels will sign the peace deal are fading fast, it says.

South Africa's Mail and Guardian newspaper also says the LRA's expansion presents a very real danger across the region.

"The fear now is that Kony will roam around the lawless corners of the DRC, Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR) as a gun for hire," the paper says, and Kony is already reported to have made links with rebels in CAR and Chad.

Analysts say that regional governments need to come together to curb the threat posed by the rebel group's swelling ranks, but the paper concludes that, "Given the weaknesses and the complexities of the domestic situations in the countries involved, the hostile terrain and the LRA's experience and battle-hardened tactics, this could take some time".

Time magazine, meanwhile, says that the international community's patience with the Ugandan peace process is wearing thin. With little to show for the $10 million spent so far, the international community could be increasingly reluctant to get involved in Uganda as the situation there worsens.

"(The LRA's) cycles of atrocities are likely to continue and they may have to be taken on militarily. But, for now, in one of the most lawless corners of the continent, there is no one willing or able to do it," the magazine says.

Writing for the European Voice website, Io Schmid urges sponsors of the peace process not to lose sight of what has been achieved throughout the negotiations.

"The talks have curbed the threat the LRA poses to civilians in the region and, as a result, there has been a gradual normalisation of life. Although still fearful of an LRA return, most of the almost 2 million people displaced by the conflict have started to return home from emergency camps to rebuild their villages, wells and schools and to plant new fields", Schmid writes in the newspaper focused on European Union affairs.

The European Union, along with other talk sponsors, must see this process through to the end to safeguard the best chance of peace and justice for northern Uganda and the wider region.

"Disengage at this critical juncture and the European Union would be jeopardising all the progress made so far," Schmid says.

Meanwhile, Paul Busharizi, writing in Uganda's New Vision newspaper, is also keen to stress the advances made during the peace negotiations, particularly in northern Uganda where most of the LRA's brutal insurgency was carried out.

"In the last two or so years during which a semblance of peace has come upon the region, the explosion of economic activity has been something to write home about," the paper says.

The government must commit to rehabilitation, infrastructure expansion and attracting foreign investment to the region, Busharizi says, but he remains optimistic about the possibility of lasting peace.

"I believe peace can hold in northern Uganda - Kony's psychosis not withstanding. The region's people have tasted the benefits of peace and are slowly rebuilding confidence in their ability to take control of their own destinies," Busharizi says.

Prospects for the rest of the region, meanwhile, are much less certain.

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