No more delays to South Sudan peace deal, East Africans warn

East African nations said on Sunday there could be no more delays in forming a power-sharing government in war-torn South Sudan, despite talks between rival leaders ending in deadlock.

President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, whose fall out in 2013 sparked a conflict that has left hundreds of thousands dead, face a February 22 deadline to form a government.

The new government's formation was delayed twice last year, and the clock runs out on the latest 100-day extension on February 22.

"Further extension is neither desirable nor feasible at this stage of the peace process," the eight-member East African bloc IGAD said in a statement late Sunday.

Old rivals Kiir and Machar met on Sunday in Ethiopia on the sidelines of the African Union summit, alongside the leaders of the neighbouring nations - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hambok, IGAD's current chair.

But they made no breakthrough to resolve their dispute over the number of regional states, a contentious issue because the borders will set out divisions of power and control in the young country.

Kiir is due to "consult with the people", Minister of Information Michael Makeui told AFP on Sunday, without giving details of what that will entail.

South Sudan's presidency said in a statement that a new IGAD summit would be organised on February 18 to reach "a final decision" on the question of regional states, although IGAD officials were less certain on the date.

"The chair will call the summit at a mutually convenient time," said IGAD official Abdullahi Busuri.

A peace deal signed in September 2018 led to a reduction in fighting, but the UN human rights commission warned on Friday that violence was on the rise ahead of the February 22 deadline.