A document signed by Riek Machar and Salva Kiir after midnight last night in Addis Ababa falls short of resolving many of the main contentious issues between the two men. Nonetheless, the partial deal commits the two to form a transitional government with a mandate beginning in July.

Kiir and Machar, who each lead a faction of the SPLM/A, signed a document titled "Areas of Agreement on the Establishment of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) in the Republic of South Sudan," following five days of negotiations.

The document does not represent a signed peace agreement but rather only points to common ground in talks so far. An annexed and annotated "working document" would one day serve as the text of the peace agreement itself. This document highlights numerous areas of disagreement including the structure of the government on the issues of vice presidents.

According to the text of the "Areas of Agreement" document, seen by Radio Tamazuj, the transitional government will be established "no later than July 9, 2015." The document adds, "The term of the TGoNU shall be (30) months to be preceded by a pre-transitional period of three (3) months."

In order for the transitional period to begin in July, Kiir and Machar said that they would resolve "all other outstanding issues" by 5 March and start the pre-transitional period on 1 April.

The negotiators envision that the peace deal, once signed, will be incorporated into the constitution before July so as to extend the legitimacy of the term of the president without necessitating an election this year.

Article I.3.C of the deal reads, "Amendments to the Transitional Constitution, 2011 for incorporation of the Peace Agreement shall be presented to the National Legislature and approved as is, and the President shall sign such amendments into law, no later than the end of the Pre-Transition period."