May 21st 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s warring parties negotiating a peace deal in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa are set to sign a document on some of the agreed points on the security arrangements this even, a source from the venue of the talks told the Nyamilepedia on the condition of anonymity.
Talks between the South Sudanese parties resumed last week in the East African country following several adjournment by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
A source told the Nyamilepedia from the venue of the talks this afternoon that the parties will sign a document on the security arrangement without giving more details as to which matter that the parties will sign a document on.
“There is a document that will be signed by the parties today,” he said without disclosing more details as to what the parties have agreed upon.
Asked about what the parties have agreed that they are expected to sign a document on, the source which spoke on the condition of anonymity replied:
“Some agreed issues in the security arrangement.”
Another source said that they were told by the mediation that they will be served with the document tomorrow at 9:00 am and that the mediation said it expect them to sign it pointing out that the document would be on the security arrangements but said the mediation did not disclose close on what matter exactly would it be.
“The mediation informed us that they will serve us with a document tomorrow at 9:00 am for signing. the document covers some issues from the security arrangement but we are not informed as to what we will sign that document,” he said on the condition of anonymity.
The source added that the outstanding issues includes the composition of Transitional Government, Structure of The Government, Responsibility Sharing, Number of States, size and composition of the Parliament on the governance dossier and on the Security issues, the source said they discuss the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements among others.
He pointed out that the parties have discussed the security of Juba during the transitional period.
South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 after forces loyal to the country’s president, Salva Kiir Mayardiit and his then Governor of Northern Bahr Al-Ghazal State Gen. Paul Malong Awan went door-to-door in the capital Juba killing civilians belonging to the Nuer ethnic group sparking a nation-wide protests from top army generals from the Nuer leading to a civil war.
A peace agreement signed in August 2015 by President Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar and negotiated under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU) in presence of Troika and other international observers collapsed in July 2016 following fighting at the presidential palace in Juba “J1” reportedly after President Kiir ordered a failed attempt to arrest the SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar.
Late last year, the IGAD decided to revive the peace agreement and had initiated a peace revival mechanism known as the High-Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) to bring back to life the 2015 peace agreement. Peace talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa resumed on Thursday with little optimism as President Kiir said he is unwilling to accept the return of the country’s former first vice president and two armies both of whom are major opposition demands.
The IGAD has given the negotiating parties May 21st as the ultimatum to sign peace but it is still unclear what would be the consequences in case the warring parties do not meet the dateline.
