The rebel group led by former South Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar has welcomed IGAD’s proposal for face-to-face talks between President Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.

Last week, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD, which is mediating South Sudan’s peace process, recommended President Salva Kiir meet his former deputy Machar before the next African Union summit in July.

The group also welcomed the IGAD communiqué that Riek Machar, who is in South Africa, will be released and allowed to participate in the talks.

“We welcome the communiqué of the IGAD Council of Ministers on the effective participation of Dr. Riek Machar in the peace talks,” Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, deputy head of the SPLM-IO’s information committee told Radio Tamazuj.

Gatkuoth further said the expected meeting between President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar could resolve most of the outstanding issues.

“The government delegation at the peace talks was not mandated fully to make concessions on the key issues. We are sure that the face-to-face meeting between Kiir and Machar will bring peace in South Sudan,” he said.

The opposition official pointed out that the regional bloc, IGAD, which is mediating efforts to revitalize the 2015 peace deal, has started to understand the situation of South Sudan.  

He noted that the country’s opposition leader Riek Machar is expected to participate actively in the search for peace in war-torn South Sudan.

 South Sudan’s rebel chief Riek Machar has been under house arrest in South Africa since 2016.