S. Sudan's Kiir, Machar Meet İn Ethiopia

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar had a face-to-face meeting on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, just two days ahead of a deadline set by East African mediators to conclude a final agreement.



"Very little time remains," Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said in a statement issued for the occasion.



"The region and the international community will not stand by and watch the humanitarian and political crisis in South Sudan continue," Desalegn declared.



According to an agreement signed last month by Kiir and Machar, the two sides have until March 5 to hammer out a comprehensive peace deal, to be followed in July by the formation of a transitional unity government.



Failure to reach a final deal by the deadline could result in African Union sanctions – including travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes – on both parties to the conflict.



Desalegn, the current chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East Africa regional bloc that is mediating the peace talks, urged the two antagonists to make the "necessary compromises so that the crisis… is solved expeditiously."



"Difficult compromises must be made by both sides," he said. "Prolonging the crisis and refusing to make those necessary compromises does not serve the interests of the people of South Sudan."



In a statement, IGAD said there were still outstanding differences over the structure of the proposed transitional government, power sharing ratios, the composition of the National Assembly, and transitional security arrangements.



"Cognizant of the parties' commitment to conclude a final agreement by March 5, IGAD special envoys for South Sudan call on the parties to accelerate efforts to reach a final agreement," the press release read.



On Monday, three thematic committees – on leadership/governance, security arrangements and resource sharing – submitted the results of their deliberations to IGAD, with the documents submitted revealing wide differences.



One critical difference relates to power sharing, as Machar's rebels want the position of first vice president – a demand that the government appears unwilling to meet.



The government also wants a single, unified national army for the transition period, while the rebels insist that army positions be clearly divided between pro-government forces and those loyal to Machar.



Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 1.5 million displaced since the South Sudan conflict began in late 2013.



As a direct result of the ongoing conflict, some four million South Sudanese remain in need of relief assistance.



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