‘S. Sudan rebel leader putting peace deal at risk’

JUBA. — South Sudan’s government and rebels yesterday accused each other of hindering rebel leader Riek Machar’s return to the capital to form a unity government, with monitors of a peace deal warning the delay was putting the agreement at risk.

Machar was due to come back to Juba on April 18, but officials said on April 19 his arrival had been postponed indefinitely for “logistical” reasons.

Machar and his rival President Salva Kiir signed a peace agreement in August aimed at ending a two-year conflict in which thousands were killed and 2 million forced to flee their homes. But implementation has not been smooth.

A government official said Machar was held up because he had wanted to bring equipment and troops into Juba in excess of what was agreed with Kiir’s camp. Machar told Al Jazeera television that the government was creating “obstacles” to his return. The United States and the UN Security Council have both voiced concern over this latest setback. The body monitoring the peace deal, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) also said it was worried. “The agreement is at risk,” said Festus Mogae, JMEC chairman.

“Having come so close to the formation of the transitional government of national unity, all parties must ensure that the spirit of reconciliation, compromise and dialogue embodied by the agreement should be protected,” he said in a statement. — Reuters.