By Carl Odera
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Peace talks with South Sudan's rebels have been delayed again, the government said on Tuesday, a day after the United Nations accused rebel fighters of massacring civilians in an oil town they had seized.
"The talks have been postponed," Information Minister Michael Makuei told Reuters by telephone. "The reason (the mediators) gave is that it will give them the opportunity to make further consultations."
Negotiations between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar have failed to advance since the January 23 signing of a ceasefire which never took hold.
The killing of hundreds of men, women and children in the oil hub of Bentiu, which was seized by the rebels a week ago, has exacerbated ethnic tensions between Kiir's Dinka people and Machar's Nuer. The rebels deny they carried out the killings.
A U.N. official told Reuters she had seen dozens of rotting bodies strewn in Bentiu's dusty streets.
"(In) the market place we saw large piles of bodies, dozens and dozens of bodies, piled up on top of each other," said Amanda Weyler, communications officer for the U.N. humanitarian coordination office OCHA. Women were among the dead, she said.
The United Nations said on Monday that rebels had killed civilians as they sought refuge in a hospital, a mosque and a church.
The rebels said the U.N. allegations were baseless and accused a part of the U.N. mission in South Sudan of pedaling "cheap propaganda" to win favor with Kiir, blaming government forces for the systematic killings.
"The government forces and their allies committed these heinous crimes while retreating," rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said in an emailed statement. These are ridiculous allegations fabricated by enemies of (the) war of resistance for democratic reforms."
The East African IGAD group brokering the talks postponed their resumption by five days to April 28, the government said.
More than 1 million people have fled their homes since fighting erupted in the world's youngest country in December.
Thousands of people have been killed and tens of thousands have sought refuge at U.N. bases around the country after the violence spread across the country the size of France and took on an ethnic dimension.
(Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
- Unrest, Conflicts & War
- Politics & Government
- United Nations
- South Sudan
Source http://news.yahoo.com/south-sudan-peace-talks-delayed-rebels-deny-massacre-162025584.html
Newer articles:
- White House horrified by massacre of hundreds in South Sudan - 23/04/2014 08:44
- 'Piles and Piles' of Bodies in South Sudan Slaughter - 23/04/2014 00:00
- South Sudan: South Sudan - Where trees and rivers have become home for hundreds of thousands of displaced families - 22/04/2014 22:50
- Distrust as Sudan's South Kordofan peace talks resume - 22/04/2014 19:25
- S Sudan rebels in ‘multiple attacks’ - 22/04/2014 18:40
Older news items
- South Sudan rebels dismiss massacres and fight on - 22/04/2014 16:57
- South Sudan conflict: key issues in worsening war - 22/04/2014 16:45
- 'Piles and piles' of bodies in South Sudan slaughter, UN official says - 22/04/2014 16:27
- South Sudan rebels blamed for massacres push offensive - 22/04/2014 15:20
- South Sudan rebels deny slaughter accusation - 22/04/2014 14:30
Latest news items (all categories):
- UNDP and the Office of the Vice President Launches the Women and Youth Leadership Program in South Sudan - 14/02/2025 11:37
- The Grave Blunders And The Paradoxical Ways In Leadership Sector - 14/02/2025 11:32
- ADF approves $153.66 million for Uganda-South Sudan electricity interconnection project - 13/02/2025 20:48
- Rwandan peacekeepers in South Sudan get UN service medals for their service - 13/02/2025 20:44
- Afreximbank seeks to claw back US$657mn debt from South Sudan - 13/02/2025 20:30
Random articles (all categories):
- Tanks 'were for Sudan arms race' - 09/10/2008 09:51
- Sudan meets with rebels amid 'urgent' ceasefire plea - 12/11/2014 16:23
- EU allocates over €43 million in humanitarian aid to South Sudan - 22/04/2021 05:19
- S Sudan army 'recaptures key town' - 24/12/2013 19:11
- South Sudan is finished, Central African Republic, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan & Uganda be alerted! - 11/02/2023 11:27
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 71831 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22388 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21600 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 19415 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 19248 times