S. Sudan president vows to remove obstacles stalling peace talks
October 22, 2014 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, said he would remove obstacles blocking progress in peace talks with the country’s rebel faction under the leadership of former vice-president Riek Machar.
“I said it in Arusha, Tanzania, that if the other people were committed and demonstrated [a] willingness to resolve this crisis, like we have done as the government, the people who are now in the [internally] displaced camps, would have returned to their homes and they would not have missed planting season. They would have cultivated,” Kiir told regional leaders at the meeting.
He said the government delegation had full powers to negotiate and resolve the current crisis.
“I see no reason for which our people should continue to suffer again after independence. They want to live in peace and the government stands with them. This is why we have not been making conditions for the talks. And if there is anything required from the government to bring peace, we will do it to remove any obstacle,” Kiir added.
Presidential spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny told Sudan Tribune that Kiir had briefed leaders from Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia on the outcome of a meeting he held with Machar in Tanzania.
According to Ateny, during the latest talks rival leaders from the two factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) had agreed to “restore unity and harmony in the party”, which he says will compliment ongoing negotiations in Ethiopia being facilitated by the Intergovernmental Authority on development (IGAD).
The presidential aide further explained that the meeting also outlined some of the progress made during the last round of peace talks in neighbouring Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, regional mediators said efforts aimed at resolving the more than 10-month-long conflict in the oil-producing country were now a step closer.
“A breakthrough has been achieved on the outstanding issues, to be finalised next week at the next IGAD summit,” IGAD envoy Seyoum Mesfin said in a statement read to reporters in the capital, Juba, shortly after the regional leaders wrapped up Wednesday’s closed door meeting, without providing specific details.
He said the meeting was an extension of a consultative meeting IGAD held with Machar after the talks were adjourned for further consultation on key sticking points.
“The IGAD leaders congratulate president Salva Kiir and Dr Riek Machar for demonstrating courage and visionary leadership to resolve these outstanding issues so that peace comes to South Sudan,” said Mesfin.
South Sudan has been mired in conflict since mid-December last year after a political dispute in the ruling SPLM turned violent.
IGAD-led peace talks have so far failed to halt the violence amid repeated delays and disagreements over key issues.
(ST)