South Sudan President, Rebel Leader to Hold Peace Talks in Ethiopia

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar are set to hold direct peace talks Friday for the first time since fighting and ethnic violence erupted in December.
 
Machar arrived in the Ethiopian capital late Thursday. President Kiir arrived Friday for the start of talks, which are being mediated by the east African bloc IGAD. 
 
Negotiations between the rebel and government delegations have dragged on for several months with little progress.
 
President Kiir agreed to attend the talks with his former vice president after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in South Sudan last week. 
 
Shortly after the visit, the United States announced its first sanctions related to the South Sudan conflict. The sanctions targeted a government and a rebel leader linked to violence that has left thousands of people dead since mid-December and displaced more than a million others.
 
The unrest was sparked by a power dispute between President Kiir and Machar.
 
In a report released Thursday, the United Nations said there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that both sides have committed international human rights violations and that crimes against humanity have occurred.
 
The U.N.'s South Sudan mission said the violations include extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and rape. 
 
Earlier Thursday, Amnesty International said its investigation into South Sudan's unrest showed both sides had committed "horrific atrocities" that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
 
The rights group said its researchers saw a mass grave in the town of Bor that a government official said contained 530 bodies. 
 
Researchers also say civilians have been "systematically targeted" in places of refuge.