South Sudan's Kiir and Machar say they will form government

Record ID: 1448695

  • Title: South Sudan's Kiir and Machar say they will form government
  • Date: 17th December 2019
  • Summary: JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN (DECEMBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SOUTH SUDAN'S PRESIDENT SALVA KIIR AND FORMER REBEL LEADER RIEK MACHAR DURING MEETING (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) SOUTH SUDAN'S PRESIDENT SALVA KIIR, SAYING: "We have agreed to form the government after the 100 days schedule without anymore delays. We have also agreed to setup a fund from the oil revenue to support the peace deal." (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) FORMER REBEL LEADER RIEK MACHAR, SAYING: "This meeting paved way for a political space to address all the outstanding issues hindering the implementation of the agreement. We have agreed to create resume the security arrangements and the issues of number of States will be handled by the South African Deputy President this coming weeks."
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2019 17:09
  • Keywords: Degalo Kiir Machar South Sudan juba
  • Location: JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
  • City: JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
  • Country: South Sudan
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA003BAD4HTZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar have agreed to form a transitional unity government even if they fail to resolve all their differences before a new deadline, the two leaders said on Tuesday (December 17).
    Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal last year under pressure from the United Nations, United States and countries in the region to end a five-year civil war and agreed to form a unity government by Nov. 12.
    But the two leaders pushed the deadline back by 100 days, prompting Washington to recall its ambassador and raising fears the civil war that created the worst refugee crisis in Africa since the Rwandan genocide might resume.
    Both sides blame each other for not meeting milestones stipulated by the peace deal, especially the integration of different fighting forces. They also disagree on the number of states the country created in 2011 should have.
    The United States imposed sanctions on two senior South Sudanese officials on Monday (December 16) for their role in perpetuating the conflict and said it was ready to impose other measures on anyone seeking to derail the peace process.
    (Production: Tek Ogot, Edwin Waita, Okwi Okoh, Chiara Rodriquez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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