S. Sudan foes agree to ‘permanent’ ceasefire within 72 hours
KHARTOUM: South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his arch-foe Riek Machar agreed Wednesday to a ‘permanent’ ceasefire to take effect within 72 hours, raising hopes of an end to four-and-a-half years of war.
The conflict erupted in 2013, around two years after South Sudan won independence from Sudan, when Kiir accused his then-deputy Machar of plotting a coup.
It claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced four million people and left the newly created country’s oil-rich economy in tatters.
“All parties have agreed on a permanent ceasefire within 72 hours,” Sudan’s Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed said after talks between the two leaders in Khartoum.
Kiir and Machar then signed the document – called the ‘Khartoum Declaration’ – in the presence of Sudanese President Omar alBashir. “It is the day that our people of South Sudan have been expecting, and I’m happy that it has finally been achieved,” Kiir said after inking the agreement.
Machar said with the signing of the ceasefire, applicable across the entire country, the war “should come to an end”.
The latest push for peace in South Sudan comes as part of a fresh bid launched by East African leaders and with the two factions facing a looming deadline to avert UN sanctions.
Welcoming the announcement, the United Nations said it was ‘signed at a time when the security situation in parts of South Sudan continues to deteriorate... with killings of civilians and other atrocities’.
Several previous ceasefire agreements have been violated, but Bashir said the latest signals the return of peace to South Sudan.
The declaration, a copy of which was made available to AFP, says the ceasefire includes disengagement, separation of forces in close proximity, withdrawal of all allied troops, opening of humanitarian corridors, and the release of prisoners of war and political detainees. It allows members of the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – an East African regional grouping that has been pushing peace efforts – to ‘deploy the necessary forces to supervise the agreed permanent ceasefire’.
Wednesday’s declaration says a transitional government to be formed within 120 days will govern the country for 36 months, and that during this period preparations will be made for holding national elections.
“It is agreed that the election shall be open for all political parties and shall be free and fair,” it says.
Analysts expressed doubts the ceasefire would hold.
“If talks do not progress in the coming days, the parties may feel less compelled to adhere to a ceasefire,” said Casie Copeland of International Crisis Group.