Former First Vice President of South Sudan and rebel leader Riek Machar (L) shakes hands with South Sudan President Salva Kiir (C), flanked by Second Vice President of South Sudan James Wani Igga (R), after the formation of the new cabinet of the Transitional Government at the Cabinet Affairs Ministry in Juba on April 29, 2016. (Photo Credit: ALBERT GONZALEZ FARRAN/AFP/Getty Images)
June 13th, 2018 (Nyamilepedia) — South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardiit, and prominent opposition and SPLM-IO leader, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, will meet next Wednesday, June 20th 2018, in the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa.
The meeting will be the first of its kind since the collapse of the Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in the republic of South Sudan in July 2016.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) led by the country’s former First Vice-President said in a welcoming press statement for the meeting.
In a statement issued today by Machar’s SPLM-IO Youth League, the SPLM-IO welcomes the high-level meeting between the two arch-rivals and former comrades which they said was called upon by the Ethiopian premier.
“The SPLM IO Youth League applaud and welcome the rightful decision on the invitation of H.E Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (PhD), Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of SPLM/SPLA(IO) by the Ethiopian Prime Minister H.E Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali for a face to face talks on the 20th of June 2018,” the statement said.
The statement signed by the SPLM-IO Youth League spokesman, Sirir Gabriel Yiei Rut, said the release of the prominent opposition leader from the “illegal” detention in South Africa is a milestone for achieving peace in the young African country.
“Releasing Dr. Riek Machar Teny from that illegal house detention is a milestone for achieving peace and stability in South Sudan,” the statement added
The statement thanked the new Ethiopian Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, for for taking the right decision in allowing Machar’s personal participation in the peace process.
“We express our gratitude to the Ethiopian Prime Minister for courageously and boldly undertaking the right decision to allow the people leader to attend and to further participate in person in the South Sudan conflict resolution and moreover, the face to face talks in Addis Ababa on 20th June 2018,” the statement added.
The statement urged “all South Sudanese civil population to be hopeful and never lose focus in aspiring for a peaceful, just, federal and prosperous South Sudan.”
Sudanese government last week requested to host the face-to-face meeting between the two leaders but still unclear whether the two political rivals will still have a meeting in the northern neighbor’s capital, Khartoum.
Machar to travel to Ethiopia for talks with Kiir
South Sudan’s main opposition leader Riek Machar will travel to Ethiopia where he will hold face-to-face talks with President Salva Kiir next week, a statement said.
The meeting between the two leaders was proposed by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) during talks at the Council of Ministers’ extra-ordinary session in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa last month.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar will be meeting for the first time since mass violence began in July 2016. Discussions between the two men will centre on ending the conflict.
According to a statement issued by Mabior Garang de Mabior, chairperson of the SPLM-IO’s committee for information, Machar received the invitation letter by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for face-to-face talks with President Kiir in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on June 20.
The opposition group reiterated its commitment to the ongoing peace process through the high-level revitalization forum in Addis Ababa.
South Sudan’s rebel chief Riek Machar has been under house arrest in South Africa since 2016.