South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar will hold face-to-face talks in Khartoum as part of the IGAD efforts to revive the stalled 2015 peace deal, according to a formal request by Sudan.
Last week, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is mediating the South Sudanese peace process, recommended President Kiir meet his former deputy Machar before the next African Union summit slated for July in Mauritania.
The announcement of the new location for talks between Kiir and Machar came from the latest meeting held between President Kiir and a Sudanese delegation led by Sudan’s foreign minister Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed in Juba this afternoon.
“I came to Juba to deliver a message from President Omar al-Bashir to his brother President Salva Kiir Mayardit. The content of the message is that as part of the IGAD effort to revive the peace process in South Sudan, President Bashir has launched an initiative to bring together his two brothers, Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar, in Khartoum soon,” said Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed, Sudan’s foreign minister.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has accepted to meet his former deputy in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, according to the top Sudanese diplomat.
“President Kiir has accepted to meet with Dr. Riek Machar in order to restore peace and stability in South Sudan,” Al-Dirdiri said.
For his part, South Sudan’s acting foreign minister Martin Elia Lomuro said President Kiir has welcomed the initiative by President Omar al-Bashir to host his face-to-face talks with opposition leader Riek Machar in Khartoum.
“We have agreed that this will be taken forward,” Lomuro said.