xi's moments
Home | Africa

South Sudan's Kiir invites rebel chiefs to Juba as gesture of peace

Xinhua | Updated: 2018-09-19 10:44

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (R) is greeted by officials at Juba International Airport in Juba on Sept 13, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

JUBA - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has invited all opposition leaders who rebelled against him to come to Juba to witness his commitment to the recently signed peace deal.

Government spokesman Michael Makuei said on Tuesday that the president's move is aimed at building trust and confidence among the several foes.

Makuei said Kiir would provide protection to the rebels during their stay in Juba.

"He (Kiir) invited him (Machar) and other colleagues as a matter of trust and confidence building. He invited them to come and spend two to three days here in Juba under his protection so that they see for themselves and they go back," Makuei told reporters after an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Juba.

Parties to South Sudan's five-year old conflict last week signed a power-sharing deal in neighboring Ethiopia aimed at ending a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 4 million internally and externally since 2013.

The South Sudanese government also announced that Kiir and his mediation team will visit Sudan on Friday to celebrate the signing of the pact with their opposition counterparts.

It, however, remains unclear whether the opposition chiefs will honor Kiir's invitation as none has so far responded to the call.

Global Edition
BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349