South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir takes his seat at the State House, in Juba, prior to a brief consultative meeting with cabinet and State Governors, on August 16, 2015 ( Waakhe Simon Wudu (AFP) )”Waakhe Simon Wudu (AFP)”
Rival parties in South Sudan agree to peace agreement; President Salva Kiir needs ‘more time’
(SOURCE) South Sudan’s government and rebels did not sign a peace agreement, a mediator for talks between South Sudan’s government and rebels said on Monday, contradicting earlier reports by an AFP correspondent.
While rival parties agreed to the accord, President Salva Kiir said he needed more time before signing peace deal, South Sudan’s Radio Tamazuj reported.
The mediator said that the “signing is a great stride in peace process in South Sudan” and he was grateful for Kiir “witnessing” signing.
The agreement was signed by rebel chief Riek Machar and Pagan Amum, the secretary-general of the ruling party.
President Salva Kiir watched the signing, after briefly shaking hands with Machar.
Kiir and Machar met alongside regional presidents in Ethiopia, under intense diplomatic pressure to sign a deal in the final hours before the end of a deadline threatening international sanctions.
African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma warned the failure to strike a deal “will have far reaching consequences for South Sudan, the region and the continent as a whole.”
But Kiir, who arrived in Ethiopia late Sunday, said he had been “compelled” to join the talks, and warned it would not be possible to sign a lasting or full peace deal until all opposition factions could join the agreement.
“A peace that cannot be sustained cannot be signed,” Kiir said Sunday. “If it is signed today and then tomorrow we go back to war, then what have we achieved?”
However, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta appeared optimistic, saying after late night talks on Sunday they were “on course to strike a deal”.
More than 70 percent of the South Sudan’s 12 million people need aid, while 2.2 million people have fled their homes, the UN says, with areas on the brink of famine ( AFP )”AFP”
Key issues of disagreement include a power-sharing proposal between the government and rebels, which could see Machar return as vice-president.
‘Enough is enough’
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the civil war, and South Sudanese civil society groups on Monday pleaded for a “stoppage of bloodshed” and a deal to be struck.
“Enough is enough,” a dozen groups said in a joint statement. “The people of South Sudan cannot raise another generation of South Sudanese children in civil war.”
In a signal of the dire conditions on the ground, the number sheltering inside UN peacekeeper bases has risen by a third in just over a month to almost 200,000 civilians, the UN mission said Monday.
Kiir initially said he would not attend talks, complaining it was not possible to strike an effective deal because rebel forces have split.
South Sudan former Vice President and South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar talks on a phone during a press conference in Nairobi on July 8, 2015 ( Ali Ngethi (AFP/File) )”Ali Ngethi (AFP/File)”
Powerful rebel general Peter Gadet and other key commanders last week accused Machar of seeking power for himself, and said they would not recognize any deal agreed.
Ethnic massacres
South Sudan’s civil war erupted in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that has split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines.
The latest round of talks opened on August 6, mediated by the regional eight-nation bloc IGAD, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, as well as the United Nations, African Union, China and the “troika” of Britain, Norway and the United States.
As well as Kenyatta, regional leaders who have appeared at the talks include host Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has sent troops into South Sudan to back Kiir. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Djibouti leader Ismail Omar Guelleh were also present.
At least seven ceasefires have already been agreed and then shattered within days, if not hours in Africa’s newest country, which broke away from Sudan in 2011.
South Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers sit on a pick up truck during a patrol in Malakal on January 21, 2014 ( Harrison Ngethi (AFP/File) )”Harrison Ngethi (AFP/File)”
Diplomats have warned any failure to sign a peace deal could trigger “serious consequences” for the rival leaders, including possible targeted sanctions and an arms embargo.
Marked by widespread atrocities on both sides, the war has been characterized by ethnic massacres and rape. Recent attacks have included castration, burning people alive and tying children together before slitting their throats.
More than 70 percent of the country’s 12 million people need aid, while 2.2 million people have fled their homes, the UN says, with areas on the brink of famine.
(AFP)
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