South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar has been invited by Pope Francis to attend a meeting in the Vatican, the opposition announced.

Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, deputy spokesman for Machar's SPLM-IO, told Radio Tamazuj Friday that Machar had received an official invitation to attend a meeting with President Salva Kiir in the Vatican.

“The meeting is expected to take place from 9 to 10 April,” Manawa said.

The opposition official said the upcoming meeting between President Salva Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar in the Vatican will focus on restoring confidence.

The deputy spokesman said they had accepted the invitation to the Vatican by Pope Francis to hold meetings with President Kiir next week.

However, Manawa said the East African bloc IGAD has not yet lifted Machar's house arrest. “I want to confirm that Dr. Riek is still under detention. He cannot move without permission from IGAD. What happened is that his location has been changed from South Africa to Sudan,” he said.

“We had requested the region to allow Machar to visit some countries to push for the peace process in South Sudan, but no positive response so far,” he added.

Manawa said the SPLM-IO group rejects the decision taken by the regional bloc, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to keep Machar under house arrest in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

“We are calling upon IGAD to set Machar free. Some circles in the region don’t want Machar to move freely,” he said.

Under pressure from members of the international community, Machar’s group, other opposition factions and the government in Juba signed the peace deal under which he will again become first vice president.

A new transitional government is expected to assume power in May 2019 before elections three years later.