A regional peace conference is schedule to take place in South Sudan's capital Juba next week, almost two years since the start of the civil war. Leaders of the East African block IGAD will take part in the conference to lend their support to implementation of the peace deal signed in August.

In our weekly program 'South Sudan This Week' we discuss the upcoming visit of the East African leaders and peace mediators to Juba. Featured on this program are citizens of Juba, Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek, SPLM-IO official Dhieu Mathok and Sudan's Minister of Information Ahmed Bilal.

Dhieu Mathok, the head of foreign relations of the SPLM-IO and a member of the group's negotiating team, told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that the group received an invitation from the IGAD mediators about the upcoming summit in Juba but he noted that they were not yet informed of the arrangements for their reception.

For his part, South Sudan's Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek said that they expect to receive SPLM-IO Chairman Riek Machar in the company of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. He mentioned that other IGAD heads of state including those of Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan.

Machar's spokesman James Gatdet has declined to confirm plans for Machar's visit scheduled for 19 November, saying the former vice president is not yet informed of plans for the “alleged” visit. But a former national security minister and SPLM-G10 minister, Oyai Deng, confirmed plans for the visit to Radio Tamazuj last week, saying he would accompany Hailemariam for a one day visit.

On the other hand, Sudan's Minister of Information Ahmed Bilal said in an interview with Radio Tamazuj that President Omar al Bashir will take part in the summit, saying his visit comes in the framework of celebration of the end of the war in South Sudan.

Bilal also disclosed contacts between his government and the rebel breakaway group headed in part by Gabriel Changson Chang, which split from Machar's SPLM-IO in August. He played down the demands of these dissidents saying they could be accommodated and he said this issue would be discussed at the summit.