Igad Summit To Kick Off Sunday İn Addis Ababa

Leaders of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member states will convene in Addis Ababa on Sunday, the East African trade bloc said Friday.



South Sudan peace talks, currently underway in the Ethiopian capital, are expected to top the meeting's agenda, it noted.



Michael Makuei, a spokesman for the South Sudanese government's delegation to the talks, confirmed to Anadolu Agency that South Sudanese President Salva Kiir would attend the summit.



The leader of the country's rebel camp, Riek Machar, is also expected to attend.



Observers believe the summit will adopt significant resolutions aimed at expediting IGAD's ongoing mediation efforts at the talks.



South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when Kiir accused Machar, his sacked vice-president, of plotting to overthrow his regime.



Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese have since been displaced in fighting between the two rivals, leading to an increasingly dire humanitarian situation for large swathes of the country's population.



In recent months, the warring camps have held on-again, off-again peace talks in Addis Ababa under the auspices of the Djibouti-based IGAD.



Representatives of both sides are currently in the Ethiopian capital to discuss implementation of a June agreement to draw up a transitional government.



Delegates from Juba, however, recently walked out of an ongoing multi-stakeholder dialogue without providing clear reasons for doing so.



Before the government walkout, talks had been focused on a proposed cessation-of-hostilities arrangement, which, it was hoped, might lead to the formation of a transitional government of national unity.



By Addis Getachew                                        



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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