The SPLM/A-in-Opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar will visit the Sudanese capital Khartoum this month, but only after meeting South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, according to his spokesman.

The visit was announced already several weeks ago as part of a tour by the rebel leader of member states of IGAD, the East African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.

An advance team of the SPLM/A-in-Opposition has already made arrangements and consultations with the govenrment in Khartoum for the planned visit.

After signing a peace deal with President Salva Kiir on 9 May, Machar first traveled from Ethiopia to Kenya, where he met with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Yesterday, SPLM/A-in-Opposition spokesman Yohanis Mousa Puok told press in Kharotum that Machar’s visit will possibly come shortly after the expected meeting between Machar and Kiir.

In another development, Sudan’s Defence Minister Abdurrahim Mohamed Hussein is expected to visit Bahr El Arab area, which lies near the border between Sudan and South Sudan.

The expected visit comes as part of his tour to Darfur state within the framework of the second phase of the decisive summer operation in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

File photo: Riek Machar at a meeting with Sudan's President Omar al Bashir in 2013