New round of South Sudan peace talks begins in Ethiopia

‘We have no time to lose, particularly with regard to peace work,’ Sudanese Vice President Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid says

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – A new round of peace talks between warring factions of South Sudan has started in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa ahead of rebel leader Riek Machar’s expected visit to Juba next week.

The talks include representatives from the Sudanese government, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and other minor armed groups, who agreed last month to form a joint police force and implement the demilitarization of the South Sudanese capital Juba.

Machar signed a peace agreement with South Sudan President Salva Kiir in August.

Among the participants in the talks are South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) delegations, Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa; UN Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Haile Menkerios and Donald E. Booth, U.S. special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, who have been discussing the South Sudan opposition group’s entry to Juba to start a transitional government in mid-November.

Sudanese Vice President Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid said that the government came to the talks in Addis Ababa with a “clear mind” to ensure peace.

“We have no time to lose, particularly with regard to peace work,” Hamid said.

Other armed groups are also expected to attend the ongoing talks after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s peace calls.

Talks between the Sudanese government and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) stalled last year in December. Since then, African Union mediators led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki have been working to get the negotiations in Addis Ababa back on track. A cease-fire was declared last month.

The SPLM-N has been fighting government troops in the southern Blue Nile and South Kordofan states since 2011.