S. Sudan opposition leader in Kampala to meet President Kiir

November 6, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – The South Sudanese armed opposition faction (SPLM/A-IO) chairman, Riek Machar has arrived in the Ugandan capital, Kampala for the third face-to-face meeting with President Salva Kiir, a senior party official confirmed on Thursday.

Puok Both Baluang, the SPLM/A-IO director for public relations, told Sudan Tribune that Machar was accompanied by the chairperson of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.

“The meeting aims at discussing the critical outstanding issues of the R-ARCSS and chat a way forward as the extended pre-transitional period draws to a close without much having been achieved,” he said.

Baluang said guarantors of the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) will also attend the meeting.

South Sudan descended into civil war in mid-December 2013 when President Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup, allegations he dismissed.

In September last year, the country’s rival factions signed a revitalized peace deal to end the civil war that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

According to the 2018 peace deal, a unity government was supposed to be formed in May, but due to unresolved issues, the parties agreed to a six-month extension, settling on November 12.

At least 382,900 people died as a result of the conflict in the world’s youngest nation, a report published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine last year revealed.

(ST)