South Sudan’s warring leaders meet for 1st time since 2016
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — South Sudan’s warring leaders met face-to-face for the first time in almost two years on Wednesday amid efforts to end a five-year civil war, shaking hands but making no public comments.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar continued meeting into the night and were expected to continue discussions on Thursday in neighbouring Ethiopia, which invited them for talks as pressure grows to end a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and created Africa’s largest refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
A Kiir spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, has said “anything that brings peace in South Sudan is wanted.”
Machar fled South Sudan after new fighting erupted in the capital in July 2016, ending a brief attempt at peace in which he returned to his role as Kiir’s deputy. He later was put under house arrest in South Africa, whose presidency on Wednesday welcomed Machar’s participation in the talks.