South Sudan’s Salva Kiir and Riek Machar to sign peace deal on Wednesday

South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar are set to sign an agreement to end civil war in the country, on Wednesday.

The latest breakthrough comes after progress was made in talks between the two rivals, mediated by Sudan president Omar Al Bashir and Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni in Khartoum.

On Tuesday, Sudan’s foreign ministry said the two leaders had reached an agreement on some points, while the information ministry invited the media to a signing ceremony scheduled for the next day.

I would like to assure everyone that Sudan will work hard and try all measures based on our experience during the war and peace times to ensure that this initiative is a success.

Details of peace deal

• The areas agreed upon include a permanent ceasefire, grounding of all forces and the deployment of forces by regional body IGAD and the African Union to safeguard the ceasefire.

• President Kiir and Dr Machar further agreed to have three capital cities; namely Juba, Wau and Malakal on temporary basis to host the three proposed vice-presidents.

• According to the signed Framework Agreement, seen by the media, the two rivals agreed to allow the Khartoum government to secure the oil fields in South Sudan in coordination with the Juba administration, and to rehabilitate the wells to restore the previous levels of production.

• They also declared to work together again for the third time after their long disagreement proved difficult for peace and stability.

Sudanese President Omar Bashir on Monday promised to end the war in South Sudan and pave the way for rigorous development in the war-torn state.

“I would like to assure everyone that Sudan will work hard and try all measures based on our experience during the war and peace times to ensure that this initiative is a success.

“We shall use our experience in the management of national and community dialogues to address all the issues,” President Bashir said.

Interestingly, however, the Sudanese leader is a suspect wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide committed in western Darfur region.