Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

South Sudan peace talks delayed; need for agenda cited | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55326545
Caption:

In this photo released by the Kenyan Presidential Press Service, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, middle, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, right, and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta before their meeting at State House in Juba, South Sudan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. The leaders of Kenya and Ethiopia arrived in South Sudan on Thursday to try and mediate between the country’s president and the political rivals he accuses of attempting a coup that the government insists sparked violence threatening to destroy the world’s newest country. (AP Photo/Kenyan Presidential Press Service)


Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (C), South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (R), and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta  before a meeting at State House in Juba, South Sudan, on Thursday, December 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Kenyan Presidential Press Service)

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn (C), South Sudanese President Salva Kiir (R), and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta before a meeting at State House in Juba, South Sudan, on Thursday, December 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Kenyan Presidential Press Service)

Addis Ababa, AP—Peace talks between warring parties in South Sudan scheduled to be held in Ethiopia were delayed Saturday because the sides haven’t yet agreed upon an agenda, an official said.

Mahboub M. Maalim, the executive secretary of an East African bloc of states known as IGAD, confirmed the talks were delayed. Officials had hoped direct peace talks would begin Saturday after preliminary talks on Friday.

The slow start to peace talks is a worrying sign for South Sudan, which has seen spiraling ethnic-based violence over the last three weeks. President Salva Kiir accuses the former vice president, Riek Machar, of an attempted coup. Machar denies the accusation, but forces loyal to him now control two state capitals, including the town of Bor, about 70 miles (120 kilometers) north of the country’s capital, Juba.

A spokesman for Machar, Yohanis Musa Pouk, said that peace talks won’t be held unless a clear agenda is set first. Pouk said preliminary talks Friday were good, but he couldn’t predict when more advanced talks would begin.

The UN’s top humanitarian official in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said Saturday that people are continuing to arrive in search of safe haven at two UN bases in South Sudan’s capital. The UN is hosting 30,000 refugees in Juba alone, he said. Some 200,000 people are believed to have been displaced by the three weeks of violence.

The largest humanitarian needs are in Awerial, where an estimated 76,000 people have fled violence in the nearby town of Bor, where indiscriminate violence left bodies lying in the street, according to refugee witnesses.

The UN mission in South Sudan said Saturday that it is reinforcing its presence in the country, including police, military and logistics support. Shortly after the violence broke out December 15, the UN Security Council voted to temporarily increase the number of UN military personnel in South Sudan from 7,000 to 12,500.

The response to the humanitarian crisis has been complicated by the fact the UN, aid agencies and foreign embassies have sent personnel out of the country because of the risk of violence. The US Embassy on Friday announced it was evacuating more embassy personnel out of an abundance of caution.