Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir reaffirmed his commitment to supporting efforts to solve the ongoing crisis in South Sudan.
This comes during a meeting with Seyoum Mesfin, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) special envoy of the South Sudan peace talks in Ethiopia.
Mesfin delivered a message from Ethiopian Prime Minister and IGAD head Hailemariam Desalegn to al-Bashir pertaining to the progress of the mediation.
Al-Bashir said the Sudanese government is ready to support the initiative and that it will take part in all IGAD efforts to find amicable solutions to the conflict.
“In my capacity as IGAD envoy, I have briefed President al-Bashir on the outcomes of the mediation and I sought his advice and guidance to push efforts forward,” Mesfen said in press statements in Khartoum Tuesday.
Mesfin said consultations are continuing with the parties in South Sudan and that Desalegn would visit Juba to meet President Salva Kiir for a consultation.
The heads of state of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda are scheduled to meet with South Sudanese president Salva Kiir in Juba today, president Kiir’s spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny said Tuesday.
Mesfin pointed out that the Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Marriam Desalegn had already met with SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar who he said promised to cooperate fully with IGAD to address the conflict.
He said that after consultations in Juba there will be another IGAD summit in Addis Ababa to find a solution for the problem in South Sudan.
“So we are now closer than ever before to reaching an agreement to end the conflict in South Sudan, but efforts should continue to that end,” said the envoy.