A little behind schedule, but it seems all those Facebook likes have finally convinced notorious African warlord Joseph Kony to lay down his arms and surrender.

The Central African Republic announced yesterday it had entered surrender talks with Kony, leader of the brutal Lord's Resistance Army who was the subject of a widely shared (and ridiculed) "slacktivism" campaign last year.

According to the country's interim president Michel Djotodia, Kony is currently in the CAR, having been expelled from Uganda along with his fighters in 2005.

Reports shared by the African Union suggest that Kony may be suffering from a "serious, uncharacterised illness," but those remain unverified.

"It's true, Joseph Kony wants to come out of the bush. We are negotiating with him," Djotodia said in a statement to The Guardian. "He asked for food supplies and the government took care of that."

Djotodia is himself the head of a rebel group which seized power in the mostly lawless nation earlier this year and has the UN on edge.

Meanwhile, American officials maintain a "we'll believe it when we see it" attitude toward the CAR's claims, saying any talks with Kony are likely yet another pretext "to rest, regroup and rearm, ultimately returning to kidnapping, killing, displacing and otherwise abusing civilian populations."

The BBC's Africa security correspondent Moses Rono, however, believes Kony may be desperate to surrender due to his failing health and the near-anarchy that reign in the CAR, which makes it that much easier for armed groups to seize him in hopes of getting their hands on a hefty reward.

The US has placed a $5 million bounty on Kony's head, and he is also wanted by International Criminal Court to face countless war crime charges.

[photo via AP]