South Sudan’s government said the participation of the exiled rebel leader Riek Machar in the peace process is an "irrelevant demand" by the opposition.

The government said this in a statement presented by cabinet affairs minister Martin Elia Lomuro to the IGAD Council of Ministers in Addis Ababa today.

The IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, Ambassador Ismail Wais, recommended that the IGAD Council of Ministers should review and take appropriate action on the status of the exiled rebel leader Riek Machar.

In the statement seen by Radio Tamazuj, Minister Lomuro said both the objectives of the peace forum and the mandate of Ambassador Ismail Wais have no reference to the status of the exiled rebel leader Riek Machar.

“It should, therefore, be left to the concerned entities or to be raised at a later date for the consideration of AU, IGAD and the government of South Sudan at the appropriate time after the ARCSS is revitalized to avoid further complications,” he said.

Lomuro further said the agreement on the release of all political prisoners is in progress and that the CTSAMM has the mandate to verify and report on non-compliance.

The South Sudanese government official further said the chairman of JMEC has unilaterally abrogated the 2015 peace agreement and that the unity government was seriously concerned about the manner in which the JMEC leadership administers the organ of the peace agreement, citing its failure to conduct meetings.

The government also rejected a recommendation on referral of punitive measures to the United Nations Security Council, saying it contradicts the principle of finding African solutions to African problems.

Lomuro called on IGAD countries to pay maximum attention to what he termed as a “negative impact” of the US policy towards his government.