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Spotlight: South Sudan's rebel leader Machar due in Juba on April 18 to form gov't

Xinhua, April 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar has said he will arrive in the capital Juba on April 18 to form a transitional government with President Salva Kiir.

Marchar announced the date in a letter issued on Wednesday to the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the body monitoring the implementation of the South Sudan peace deal.

"I am therefore confirming the date of my arrival to be April 18 and thereafter with President Kiir, form the Transitional Government of National Unity and hold the Transitional National Council of Ministers."

Machar's deputy spokesperson, Nyarji Roman, confirmed the date to reporters and said Machar would depart from Gambela, Ethiopia by plane.

His return is part of the peace deal meant to end more than two years of civil war.

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011, becoming the world's youngest nation after decades of war.

However it again descended into clashes in December 2013 when President Kiir fell out with his former deputy Machar, who later formed the rebel force, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).

The peace deal, signed by the two leaders last August under UN pressure, leaves Kiir as president and returns Machar to his old job as deputy.

JMEC chairperson, Festus Mogae, had proposed April 12 for Machar's return and April 14 for the inauguration of the transitional government, but the rebel leader said the timetable was "not workable".

The JMEC is yet to announce whether it will accept Machar's arrival date.

His letter comes after the UN mission in South Sudan said it had helped transport more than 700 troops of Machar's rebel force, including two of its commanders, to Juba.

Machar, through the spokesman, applauded the JMEC efforts in transporting his troops to Juba that begun on March 24.

He had previously said he would only return after the arrival of his 1,370 rebel troops under protection in Juba.

His troops are expected to be incorporated into government forces and police.

The more-than-two-year civil war in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced over two million, among them some 200,000 are living in UN protection camps, with about five million facing food shortage. Endit