S. Sudan Peace Talks Postponed For Fortnight

Multi-stakeholder peace talks between South Sudan's warring rivals – mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East Africa trade bloc – have been postponed for two weeks.



"We discussed with the mediators all day today and the adjournment was raised; all stakeholders present agreed to it," rebel spokesman Goy Yol told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.



A diplomat close to IGAD likewise confirmed the move.



He said the meeting had addressed means of implementing a cessation-of-hostilities agreement signed Monday with the aim of ironing out major sticking points – on the economic, political and security fronts – within 45 days.



Asked if the delay would reduce this period to 30 days, Yol stressed that, this time around, no deadline had been set.



"If 30 days is not enough, we have the prerogative to extend it," he said. "The issue [goal] is arriving at a lasting peace."



South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when President Salva Kiir accused Riek 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.



By Addis Getachew



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Addis Ababa