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1st LD Writethru: UN chief hails deal to reinstate opposition leader in South Sudan

Xinhua, April 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday welcomed an agreed political arrangement in South Sudan to reinstate the opposition leader, former Vice President Riek Machar, as deputy to South Sudanese President Slva Kiir.

He voiced his hope that "this will enable the swift formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity" in the world's youngest country.

"The secretary-general welcomes the decision of the government of the Republic of South Sudan to accept the compromise proposal on the arrangements for the return of First Vice President-designate Riek Machar," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman, adding that this was developed through the efforts of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (JMEC) along with regional and international partners.

"The secretary-general is hopeful that this will enable the swift formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity, and the full implementation of the country's peace agreement," the statement said. "Maintaining a spirit of cooperation will be crucial as the country's leaders begin the work of reversing the years of destruction this conflict has brought upon the people of South Sudan."

The secretary-general now calls on First Vice President-designate Riek Machar to return to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, "without delay and without further conditions which could jeopardize the fragile peace process and prolong the suffering of the South Sudanese people," said the statement.

The secretary-general commends the efforts of the JMEC chairperson and former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, who was the African Union high representative, the former president of Mali, Alpha Konare, to resolve the impasse, the statement said. "He urges all regional and international partners to support actively the continued implementation of the peace agreement."

Machar put off his arrival in Juba earlier this week, but his advance team and 1,370 protection troops have arrived in the capital 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. Enditem