Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn has finished a closed-door meeting with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, just ahead of meeting between Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.

The meeting finished at about 3:00 p.m. today at the palace of the Prime Minister, and was aimed at creating a positive atmosphere ahead of the meeting between the two rival South Sudanese leaders.

Dessalegn, who chairs the IGAD bloc of nations mediating the South Sudan talks, is expected also to meet Riek Machar at the same location and for the same purpose.

Neither side has yet given any statement about the ongoing meetings in Addis Ababa. The planned face-to-face meeting between Machar and Kiir is unprecedented because the two have not met since before the start of the war in December 2013.

File photo: Hailemariam Desalegn (center), 5 April 2014 (Radio Tamazuj)