Machar meets Ethiopia’s PM Desalegn

April 1, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – First Vice President designate, Riek Machar, who has been in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday met with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, his press secretary said.

“First Vice President designate, H.E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon (Chairman and C-in-C, SPLM/SPLA-IO), met with the Ethiopian Premier, H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn (IGAD Chairman), on Thursday, 31 March, 2016, in Addis Ababa…They discussed the steps being taken and challenges being faced in the implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS),” James Gatdet Dak wrote on his Facebook page.

The top opposition leader of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) left the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday after holding meetings with the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In a briefing to the South Sudanese community in Nairobi, he called on members of the opposition’s leadership in Nairobi to begin to move to Juba in preparation for his soon return.

Machar for the last one month reportedly toured a number of African countries and met with their respective presidents and prime ministers, briefing them about the issues in the implementation of the peace deal and asking for their support for its full implementation.

He met with leaders representing East, West, South and North of the African regional blocs in the African Union (AU).

(ST)