Machar has until end of Saturday to return to Juba
A file photo taken on January 26, 2016 shows South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar at a press conference in Kampala. AFP PHOTO | ISAAC KASAMANI
What you need to know:
- International powers have given South Sudan’s rival leaders a Saturday deadline to strike a deal and ensure rebel chief Riek Machar returns to the capital.
- In a country awash with weapons, the agreement stands or falls on how many machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades the rebel troops protecting Machar should be allowed to bring to Juba.
- The April 23 deadline was proposed by non-South Sudanese members of JMEC, including the African Union, European Union as well as China, Britain, Norway and the United States.
- Rebel officials said Machar would return on a one-hour flight from neighbouring Ethiopia “as soon possible” after a deal was agreed, then take up the post of vice-president.
JUBA, Friday
International powers have given South Sudan’s rival leaders a Saturday deadline to strike a deal and ensure rebel chief Riek Machar returns to the capital.
If they fail to agree, the peace deal to end over two years of intense civil war would collapse, warned Festus Mogae, head of the internationally-backed Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission.
In a country awash with weapons, the agreement stands or falls on how many machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades the rebel troops protecting Machar should be allowed to bring to Juba.
“If we are not able to reach an agreement, then it is a breakdown,” Mogae told reporters in Juba.
Tens of thousands have been killed and more than two million driven from their homes since war broke out in December 2013, a conflict characterised by extreme brutality and human rights violations.
The April 23 deadline was proposed by non-South Sudanese members of JMEC, including the African Union, European Union as well as China, Britain, Norway and the United States.
POST OF VICE PRESIDENT
Rebel officials said Machar would return on a one-hour flight from neighbouring Ethiopia “as soon possible” after a deal was agreed, then take up the post of vice-president.
If they fail, the rivals will be reported to the UN Security Council.
His return to forge a unity government with arch-rival President Salva Kiir is seen as fundamental in ensuring the repeatedly delayed and broken peace deal sticks.
But Machar’s arrival on Monday was delayed by wrangling over how many soldiers and weapons he could bring with him, with the government saying his large armed entourage would contravene the peace deal.
The international proposal — accepted by rebels — is that Machar’s guards bring 20 machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, while the government says the limit should be seven.
“If there is no agreement until that day, then I am required to report to the IGAD heads of state, the AU and the UN Security Council,” Mogae said, when asked what will happen if the April 23 deadline is missed. (AFP)
