South Sudan's conflicting parties agree to end hostilities

Khartoum, Jan 12 (IANS) The conflicting parties of South Sudan have reached an agreement on accelerating the country's peace process and welcomed China's support for the mediation efforts of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), a source said Monday.

At a consultation with the IGAD and the South Sudan conflicting parties held by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, "the two sides of the South Sudan conflict... have agreed to implement the signed agreements in good faith and realise an end to all hostilities," Xinhua quoted the source as saying.

They had also agreed to accelerate negotiations on forming a transitional government, and take concrete steps to relieve the humanitarian situation in the conflict zones and provide necessary facilitation for the access of international humanitarian assistance.

The conflicting parties are "committed to ensuring the safety of personnel and institutions of various countries in South Sudan," the source said.

Meanwhile, the conflicting parties reiterated their firm support for and active participation in the IGAD's mediation efforts, and expressed welcome to China's support for the group.

Wang held the consultation in a bid to discuss how to support the IGAD in promoting reconciliation and realising peace and stability in the country at an early date.

South Sudan plunged into violence in Dec 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy-turned foe Riek Machar around the capital, Juba.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war between the army and defectors, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee homes in the world's youngest nation.