1st LD Writethru-Roundup: South Sudan's Machar delays arrival in Juba

South Sudan's Vice-President designate Riek Machar has postponed his arrival in Juba to Tuesday due to logistical challenges, his spokesman said Monday.

Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) spokesman William Ezekiel said the rebel leader who was expected in the capital on Monday from his Pagak base was to take his oath of office immediately after his arrival.

"Machar was due to arrive today from Pagak through Gambela in Ethiopia to Juba. Instead he will be arriving on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m.," Ezekiel told journalists in Juba without providing further details.

Machar's advance team and 1,370 protection troops have arrived in Juba despite continued clashes between his troops with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in Bahr el Ghazal and Equatoria regions.

Civil war erupted in December 2013 when President Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the country along ethnic lines.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke by phone with President Salva Kiir, and separately with Machar on Sunday ahead of Monday's swearing in ceremony.

Ban emphasized the importance of quickly establishing the Transitional Government of National Unity, which was agreed to as part of a peace agreement signed in August of last year by both President Kiir and his rival, Machar.

According to a readout issued in Juba on Monday by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) of the telephone calls, the UN chief also urged both leaders to continue working together with the Chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, former president Festus Mogae, and the African Union High Representative for South Sudan, former president Alpha Oumar Konare, towards the implementation of the peace agreement.

"The Secretary-General underscored the need to quickly form the Transitional Government of National Unity, as a crucial next step in the peace process. He reaffirmed the readiness of the UN to assist in all efforts to bring peace to South Sudan," it said.

While speaking with President Kiir, Ban commended his decision to welcome Machar back to Juba and to swear him in as the first vice president.

The readout said Bank also called for the expeditious implementation of the security arrangements envisaged in the peace agreement and the withdrawal additional SPLA troops from Juba.

On his call with Machar, Ban welcomed the decision of the First Vice President Designate to return to Juba and urged him to work with President Kiir to prevent any further violence. Endit