Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The two warring parties in South Sudan on Monday agreed to start substantial talks on two primary issues as of Tuesday, 7 January, according to the chief negotiators of the two sides and regional peace brokers.
“In their first face-to-face discussion since delegates of President Salva Kiir and rebel leader, Riek Machar arrived in Addis Ababa last week, the two sides Monday discussed modalities, procedures as well as structures and terms of reference for their peace talks, finalizing preliminary talks and paving the way for substantial peace talks from Tuesday,” Seyoum Mesfin, IGAD special envoy to the talks, told journalists at a joint press conference.
Accordingly, the two sides will start substantial peace talks on Tuesday, Seyoum said while South Sudan’s Information Minister, Michael Makuei Louth, and his rebel counterpart, Gen. Taban Deng Gai, confirmed their commitments for a successful dialogue.
“Despite the crisis, the two parties have committed to sit around a table and negotiate in the spirit of give and take and in the interest of bringing peace to their people,” Seyoum said.
Louth, who heads the government delegation, said, “we came with an open heart to take peace to our people … We are ready to make sure this happens. We have come for peace and we will go back with peace.”
The two sides have worked hard to get to this point, according to Gen. Gai, the rebel chief negotiator, who said the crisis South Sudan is facing is political and can only have a political solution.
He also characterized the crisis as an inter-SPLM squabble that can be resolved within the party while sharing Louth’s s optimism and commitment to the peace talks.
“We have come here to discuss peace with our brothers. They lead the SPLM and we are in the SPLM. So, this problem will be solved within the SPLM,” he said, referring to the ruling Sudan People Liberation Movement which stirred the long rebellion against Khartoum to lead to South Sudan’s secession in 2011.
“We are going to start (peace talks) tomorrow and it is not going to take us long. We will arrive at a meaningful cessation of hostilities soon,” he assured.
The two major substantive agenda the two sides agreed to discuss Tuesday are the cessation of hostilities and status of detainees, according to an Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) statement issued Monday.
Meanwhile, Gen. Gai said that his side is concerned “that Uganda has decided to invade my country.… We really appeal to our brothers in Uganda to stop what they are doing.”
Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, last week warned the rebels to come to peace talks as ordered by the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), or face military actions from neighbouring countries, including his.
He said regional powers will not look on as South Sudan falls into chaos.
