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AU warns against collapse of S. Sudan peace deal

Xinhua, November 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

The African Union (AU) has warned against collapse of South Sudan's peace deal, urging the two conflicting parties to fulfil their commitments to the agreement.

In a statement issued late Saturday, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, AU Commission chairperson, cautioned that the peace deal is at a critical stage, and urged all parties to abide by the commitments they have pledged, including a permanent cease-fire.

Zuma called on the South Sudanese rebels to attend the coming meetings of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), established by the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development in Africa (IGAD), which is mediating between the two South Sudanese rivals.

Last Friday, the JMEC held a meeting in Juba, capital of South Sudan, but the rebels failed to attend due to continued battles.

The IGAD was scheduled to hold a meeting on November 23 in South Sudan to mark the beginning of the transitional period in the young country, but the summit was delayed indefinitely.

The two sides have recently declared their commitment to a comprehensive cease-fire that went into effect as of last Aug. 30 in accordance with a peace deal signed last August under the patronage the IGAD.

South Sudan was plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension, pitting president Dinka's tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes killed thousands of South Sudanese and forced around 1.9 million individuals to flee their homes. Enditem