Igad Leaders To Meet İn Addis Ababa Tuesday

Heads of state and government from Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member countries will meet in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday, a source close to the organizer of the event said Friday.



Representatives of South Sudan's warring rivals will also convene in Addis Ababa on Monday to resume peace talks, according to the same source, who asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak to the media.



The IGAD summit will be the second within one week.



On Wednesday, leaders of IGAD member states met for a one-day summit in Juba to discuss means of pushing South Sudan's peace process forward.



Following the Wednesday summit, IGAD chief mediator Seyoum Mesfin said the regional bloc's leaders had made headway on outstanding issues hindering the peace process.



The source told AA that IGAD leaders now sought to capitalize on the breakthroughs achieved at the Juba talks.



"Negotiators will also continue to speed up the resolution of the crisis," he added.



Outstanding points that had stalled talks earlier had included the thorny issues of power sharing and the division of authority between the president and would-be prime minister.



The Juba government had wanted the country's prime minister to be answerable to the president, while the rebels had wanted the premier to enjoy executive power.



Another outstanding issue concerns the country's system of government, with the rebels demanding a federal system – a point on which the government has agreed in principle.



The Juba summit came two days after rival camps within South Sudan's ruling Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) – respectively headed up by President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar – reiterated their commitment to settling their differences through dialogue.



A communiqué to this effect was signed following a recent round of talks in Tanzania's Arusha.



South Sudan, which became the world's newest nation in 2011 after seceding from Sudan, descended into chaos and bloodshed late last year following an alleged coup attempt against Kiir by Machar.



Thousands of South Sudanese have since lost their lives in the conflict, while more than 1.7 million have been displaced.



In recent months, the warring camps have held on-again, off-again peace talks in Addis Ababa sponsored by IGAD, an East African regional block based in Djibouti.



By Seleshi Tessema



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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