South Sudan rivals to hold talks in Juba

South Sudan’s exiled rebel leader Riek Machar is due to meet with president Salva Kiir in Juba on Tuesday.

Machar’s visit was confirmed to Radio Tamazuj by the deputy spokesman of the opposition forces.

The two protagonists are expected to discuss issues seen as critical to the realisation of the peace accord signed in September of last year.

Some of those issues include the number of states and their boundaries which were increased to 32 by a presidential decree and arrangements to integrate rebel soldiers into the national army.

Last month, at a summit in Uganda, the leaders agreed to extend the deadline for the formation of a unity government, a key part of the peace agreement, to February of 2020.

But little progress has been made since then.

Machar’s camp accuses president Kiir’s government of deliberately frustrating peace efforts by reneging on key parts of the accord. Juba has recently come under pressure from Washington for not acting fast enough to implement the agreement.