South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar said on Thursday
he would return to the capital Juba on April 18 to form a transitional
government with President Salva Kiir, more than two years after a feud between
the two men erupted into war, reports Reuters.
Kiir sacked Machar as vice president in 2013, exacerbating a
political dispute that erupted into fighting in December that year between
soldiers loyal to both men, reopening ethnic rifts between Kiir's Dinka group
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| Riek Machar |
After that violence spread across South Sudan, killing
thousands and forcing more than 2.3 million people to flee their homes. Under
pressure from the United States, the United Nations and other powers, the sides
signed an initial peace deal in August and agreed to share out ministerial
positions in January. The deal has broken down repeatedly.
"I am therefore confirming the date of my arrival to be
April 18 and thereafter form with President Kiir the Transitional Government of
National Unity and hold the Transitional National Council of Ministers,"
Machar said in a letter to the head of the body monitoring the implementation
of the peace deal.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan said in a
statement on Wednesday it had helped Machar's SPLM/A group transport 802
military and police officers to Juba, including two of its generals.
Machar said in February that a condition to his return to
Juba and taking up his old position of vice president was the demilitarisation
of the capital and that some of his soldiers be allowed to return with him. The
conflict has hit hard the economy of South Sudan, an oil exporter. Its currency
has weakened, inflation has spiralled and oil revenues have dropped due to
falling production and falling world prices.
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