South Sudan Peace Talks Fail to Reach Consensus, Rebels Say

SOUTH SUDAN (Capital Markets in  Africa) – The first face-to-face meeting in two years between South Sudan’s president and his exiled rival failed to achieve a deal, the country’s main rebel group said, asking for more time to reach a lasting agreement to end four years of civil war.

President Salva Kiir and the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition, Riek Machar, met in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, this week under a regional peace initiative by the eight-nation Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD. The rebel group rejected as an imposition a “bridging” proposal prepared by the East African bloc and said it preferred a “comprehensive political settlement, so that the guns can fall silent.”

“The best way to achieve lasting peace is to address the deep-seated root causes to the conflict in the country and the movement has requested for more time, as any honest approach to resolving this, apart from good will, requires time,” the SPLM-IO said in a statement.

Conflict broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 after Kiir tried to arrest Machar, his former deputy, and other ruling party rivals for allegedly plotting his overthrow. The army fractured and the ensuing violence has left tens of thousands of people dead and driven 4 million more from their homes. Peace talks resumed last month in neighboring Ethiopia between the government and opposition groups in an attempt to revive a 2015 power-sharing deal.

Tough Action
“President Salva Kiir is not ready in any way to work again with Riek Machar in the next transitional period,” Makuei said on state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corp. “This is simply because we have had enough of it. We want our people to continue to live in peace and harmony and Riek Machar to wait for elections.”

Other IGAD heads of state in Addis Ababa for the meeting threatened tougher action against South Sudan’s leaders.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who’s also IGAD chairman, said the crisis has taken far to long to resolve due to lack of political will among key leaders, according to an emailed statement by the Kenyan presidency.

“Over time our efforts have been eclipsed by the use of violence giving credence to the call for punitive measures against perpetrators,” Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said.