The Sudanese People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) has announced that its leader Riek Machar will attend a meeting with President Salva Kiir Mayardit in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Tuesday.
Manawa Peter Gatkouth, the deputy spokesman for the SPLM-IO told Radio Tamazuj on Monday that the meeting is expected to discuss outstanding issues before the formation of a transitional government on November 12.
“The Kampala meeting will be attended by President Salva Kiir, President of the Sudanese Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and opposition leader Riek Machar,” he said.
This would be the third face-to-face meeting between the two principals since the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in September 2018.
The meeting also precedes an upcoming IGAD meeting on the 8th of this month in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, to discuss outstanding issues in the implementation of the peace agreement.
Manawa further said other parties to the agreement will not participate in the meeting since they hold the same position as the government on the formation of a unity government on November 12.
However, presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told Radio Tamazuj today that there was no official confirmation of President Kiir’s participation in the Kampala meeting.
Last week President Kiir's adviser Tut Galuak Manime said Kiir and Machar will meet with Ugandan president and Sudanese leaders to discuss controversial issues in the implementation of the peace agreement.
The parties are under growing pressure to form a unity government by November 12, although Machar and the National Democratic Movement led by Lam Akol have clearly stated that until security arrangements are implemented and parties reach an agreement on the number of states and their boundaries, they will not be part of that government.