South Sudan warring factions sign peace deal in Khartoum

South Sudan rivals President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar signed a peace agreement in Khartoum yesterday under which a ceasefire would take effect after 72 hours.

“This agreement signed today and the ceasefire will end the war in South Sudan, and opens a [new] page,” Mr Machar said after the ceremony in the Sudanese capital, while Mr Kiir said he would “commit respectfully” to the deal.

The agreement included the opening of crossings for aid, the freeing of prisoners and the formation of a provisional government after four months, Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Al Dierdiry Ahmed, said. “All parties have agreed on a permanent ceasefire within 72 hours of signing the Khartoum Document.”

Talks between Mr Kiir and Mr Machar opened on Monday, hosted by Sudan’s President, Omar Al Bashir. “We offer this agreement as a gift to South Sudanese citizens,” Mr Bashir said. “This agreement says that peace has started to return to South Sudan.”

The talks were launched in Addis Ababa last week by East African leaders who are calling for an end to a fourand-a-half-year civil war in the world’s youngest country.

The two rival factions face a looming deadline to avert UN sanctions.

Their meeting last Wednesday was the first since a peace deal between the government and Mr Machar’s rebel group fell apart in August 2016 but ended without agreement. Mr Al Bashir then offered to host a second round of talks in Sudan.

On Monday, Mr Kiir and Mr Machar had indicated their readiness to talk peace as the Khartoum dialogue opened in the presence of Mr Al Bashir and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

“I have come to really bring this unnecessary war in our country to an immediate end, and I hope that Doctor Riek Machar is ready to see my point,” Mr Kiir said.

Beginning in December 2013, South Sudan’s civil war crushed the optimism that accompanied Juba’s declaration of independence from Sudan two years earlier. The fighting, which began after Mr Kir accused his then-deputy Mr Machar of plotting a coup, has killed tens of thousands and displaced over three million.

Previous ceasefire agreements have been broken.