The East African regional organization IGAD issued a communiqué on Monday extending the deadline it earlier had set for the South Sudanese warring parties to reach an agreement on a transitional government and welcoming the signature of an Implementation Matrix of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.
President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh of Sudan all attended the summit, alongside leaders of Djibouti and Somalia.
In their communiqué, IGAD leaders condemned violations of the ceasefire agreement and demanded that the South Sudanese warring parties fully cooperate with ceasefire monitoring teams.
They further welcomed the signing of a detailed follow-up document related to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, an “Implementation Matrix.”
IGAD leaders also reiterated their demand for the warring parties to allow “full participation” of other stakeholders in the peace talks, including SPLM Leaders (Former Detainees), political parties, civil society and faith-based leaders.
Although such inclusivity was agreed by the two parties on paper on 9 May 2014, both sides have since boycotted the talks in protest of inclusion of the mentioned groups. SPLM-IO boycotted for this reason in June, but since has returned to the table, while last week SPLM-Juba was boycotting for the same reason.
According to the communiqué, the East African leaders have also endorsed modalities developed by the mediation team for carrying forward the “inclusive process” of negotiations with these parties.
Photo: President Yoweri Museveni signs the protocol (Uganda Presidency)