S. Sudanese warring factions conclude latest peace talks

ADDIS ABABA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's warring factions wrapped up peace talks, held for the past six days in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to bring an end the civil war in South Sudan.

South Sudanese parties that participated in the latest round of peace talks, dubbed the Second Phase High Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF), announced the formation of a leadership committee and sub-committees on security and governance.

Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers and Ethiopia's foreign minister, Workneh Gebeyehu, said Wednesday that the dialogue was "a worthy experience that helped IGAD to draw lessons from the parties' interactions."

Gebeyehu, however, stressed that despite series of consultations, "we could not reach a break-through."

"It was against this backdrop that the IGAD has submitted a bridging proposal to narrow the gaps based on identified challenges during the process," Gebeyehu said.

The latest peace talk, facilitated by South Sudan's Council of Churches (SSCC), concluded as the IGAD called for an extraordinary session to consider punitive measures against violators of the cessation of hostilities agreement.

The warring factions had previously violated several ceases-fire agreements since the conflict broke out nearly five years ago in the world's youngest nation.

The parties have been blaming each other for breaking the agreement, which was signed in December 2017 in Addis Ababa and, according to IGAD, was broken hours after its enforcement was supposed to start.

In one of the latest accusations, the South Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) on Wednesday accused exiled rebel leader Riek Machar faction over violation of ceasefire.

South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013, after a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Machar led to split in the army, leaving soldiers to fight alongside ethnic lines.

Since then the country has been embroiled in conflict that has taken a devastating toll on the people, creating one of the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world. Enditem