Iran Press/ Africa- South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and head of the opposition, Riek Machar, as well as the other opposition parties on Wednesday in neighbouring Ethiopia, signed a deal what they call “final final” peace agreement to end the country’s five-year civil war.
During the war, according to a Reuters report, an estimated quarter of South Sudan’s population of 12 million have been displaced, tens of thousands have been killed and its economy, which heavily relies on crude oil production, ruined.
Several preliminary agreements have already been signed but both sides say this is the concluding version.
Government spokesman" Ateny Wek Ateny" said the agreement is acceptable to all parties and noted that Kiir and Machar had an amicable chat after the signing.
The latest signing comes after weeks of negotiations in Khartoum, Sudan, on outstanding issues between the factions. While the government is optimistic about the new deal, many international observers remain skeptical.
The United States, Britain and Norway, known as the Troika which back peace efforts, welcomed the signing of the deal. A similar deal, that returned Machar to the vice presidency, was reached in 2015 but fell apart a year later in a deadly clash which forced Machar into exile.
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Machar, leader of the main rebel group the SPLM-IO, and other insurgent factions signed the new agreement with the Juba government after receiving assurances that a power-sharing accord would be honored. The deal, mediated by Sudan, reinstates Machar to his former role as vice-president of South Sudan.
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