South Sudan rivals prepare ceasefire talks as fighting rages

ADDIS ABABA: South Sudan's warring parties gathered in Ethiopia on Thursday for peace talks aimed at ending nearly three weeks of a conflict that has left thousands dead in the world's newest nation.

But as government and rebel negotiating teams gathered at a luxury hotel in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, the army said its troops were moving again on the key rebel-held town of Bor in a bid to retake it.

"We are ready for talks... but we will not meet with the government's delegation today," said rebel delegate Yohanis Musa Pouk, amid confusion as to exactly when the meetings would start and in what format.

It was not clear if all members of the two delegations had arrived.

Aid workers have increased warnings of a worsening crisis for civilians affected by the on-going conflict in South Sudan.

Thousands of people are feared to have been killed in the fighting, pitting army units loyal to President Salva Kiir against a loose alliance of ethnic militia forces and mutinous army commanders headed by ex-vice president Riek Machar.

Fighting erupted on December 15 when Kiir accused Machar of attempting a coup.

Machar has denied this, in turn accusing the president of conducting a violent purge of his opponents. Fighting has spread across the country, with the rebels seizing several areas in the oil-rich north.

On Tuesday, rebels recaptured Bor, the capital of Jonglei state just 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital Juba. The city has changed hands three times since the fighting erupted.

"We are moving on Bor... leaving the town was part of a tactical retreat, and now we are advancing again," said army spokesman Philip Aguer.

Civilians in Bor now face "an increasingly dire situation - water, food and medicines are running out, sanitary conditions are worsening," the UN humanitarian chief in the country, Toby Lanzer, said.

'Critical' situation for civilians

Tens of thousands have fled, many paddling in simple boats across the crocodile-inhabited White Nile river to escape the fighting over the town to Awerial in neighbouring lakes.

Lanzer described the situation in Awerial as "critical", with some 75,000 civilians from Bor and elsewhere needing food, water and shelter.

The decision by the two sides to send delegations for initial ceasefire talks has been widely welcomed.

UN special envoy Hilde Johnson said in Juba it was "positive that they are sending delegations", underscoring the dire need for "reconciliation and healing" after the violence.

"We have seen terrible acts of violence in the past two weeks... and as we know, if there is no one held accountable, there is a major risk that the violence can continue," she added.

Over 200,000 Sudanese refugees who had fled the fighting face a grim situation, with many aid workers who had been supporting them evacuated.

Ethnic violence

Close to 200,000 civilians have been forced to flee their homes -- including some 57,000 seeking refuge with UN peacekeepers.

The conflict has also been marked by an upsurge of ethnic violence pitting members of Kiir's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer community, and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said that "atrocities are continuing to occur" across the country.

UNMISS reported "extra-judicial killings of civilians and captured soldiers" and the "discovery of large numbers of bodies" in Juba, Bor and Malakal, the main town in oil-producing Upper Nile state.

On Tuesday, Machar told AFP via satellite phone that he was not yet ready to agree to an immediate ceasefire nor hold face-to-face talks with Kiir.

"There is no cessation of hostilities yet," Machar said. "That is what the delegation going to Addis Ababa is going to discuss."

Kiir has described the war as "senseless", but has ruled out power sharing with the rebels.

"If you want power, you don't rebel so that you are awarded with the power," Kiir said in an interview broadcast on the BBC.

South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war.