S. Sudan postpones peace talks in Ethiopia: Official
Iran Press TV
Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:36PM GMT
A second round of peace talks aimed at ending a nearly two-month-old conflict between South Sudan's government and rebels have been delayed, a government spokesperson says.
"The talks are not resuming today," South Sudan government spokesman Michael Makuei said Monday, while referring to the scheduled talks between delegates from South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and supporters of rebel leader Riek Machar, a former vice president, in Ethiopia later in the day.
An unidentified government official from Ethiopia confirmed the postponement. Further details have not been released.
The first meeting between both sides took place on January 6, with talks addressing the root causes of the unrest that started in the capital, Juba on December 15, 2013.
The conflict turned into an all-out war between the president's Dinka tribe and Machar's Nuer ethnic group, after the former accused the latter of attempting to stage a military coup.
The International Crisis Group said on January 9 that about 10,000 people had been killed in the violence.
South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from the North.
The government in Juba is grappling with rampant corruption, unrest and conflict in the deeply impoverished but oil-rich nation, left devastated by decades of war.
GMA/AB/SL
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
