SOUTH SUDAN: Rebel leader to return to capital to seal peace deal
South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar will return to the capital Juba to celebrate a peace deal on Wednesday, his group said, more than two years after he fled the country after the collapse of an earlier accord. Machar’s office said he would hold joint peace celebrations with his long-time rival, President Salva Kiir, in […]
FILE PHOTO: South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir (R) talks to South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar as they sign a cease fire and power sharing agreement with in Khartoum, Sudan August 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar will return to the capital Juba to celebrate a peace deal on Wednesday, his group said, more than two years after he fled the country after the collapse of an earlier accord.
Machar’s office said he would hold joint peace celebrations with his long-time rival, President Salva Kiir, in Juba – though there was no immediate confirmation from the government
The world’s youngest nation plunged into civil war in late 2013 when troops loyal to Kiir clashed with forces loyal to Machar, the former vice president.
“Machar will lead a delegation of the SPLM/A-IO members for the peace celebration in Juba but the program in Juba is entirely in the hands of the regime,” group spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel said.