KAMPALA, UGANDA – South Sudan’s president and chief rebel leader have agreed to postpone formation of a unity government for 100 days beyond a November 12 deadline.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced the delay Thursday on Twitter after hosting talks between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar in Entebbe.
Museveni said the meeting resulted in several resolutions,”among which is extending the pre-transitional period for 100 days, with progress reviewed after 50 days.”
Participants in the meeting included Abdalftah Alburhan, president of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, and Kenya’s special envoy on South Sudan, Kalonzo Musyoka.
Museveni said the parties resolved to ask the East Africa bloc IGAD to “address” the status of Machar, who is currently living in exile in Khartoum, under the care of the Sudanese government.
South Sudan is trying to emerge from a nearly five-year civil war that killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 4 million people.
A peace accord signed last year ended the fighting, but government and opposition groups have made little progress toward forming a proposed government of national unity.
Plans to create a unified national army have stalled, and Kiir’s opponents have refused to accept his 2015 decree dividing South Sudan into 28 states, up from the previous 10.
By VOA
