Ethiopian ambassador, IGAD envoy discuss South Sudan peace process

JUBA (SUDANS POST) – The Ethiopian ambassador to South Sudan Nebil Mahdi on Wednesday met with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Special Envoy to South Sudan Ismail Wais at the Ethiopian embassy in Juba and the two diplomats discussed the implementation process of South Sudan’s revitalized peace agreement.

South Sudan descended into a deadly civil war in December 2013 following disagreements over who should lead the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party into elections set – at the time – for 2015, with President Salva Kiir and his then deputy within the party, now First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar being the rivals in the power struggle.

The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), then known as Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), split into two with one side supporting President Salva Kiir against the other which supported First Vice President Machar in a conflict that was widely fought along ethnic lines.

The IGAD then mediate a peace agreement that collapsed in July 2016. A new peace agreement known as the Revitalized Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCISS) and a revitalized version of the first one was signed in September 2018.

The IGAD then appointed Ismail Wais as its special envoy for South Sudan to monitor and follow up the implementation process of the revitalized peace agreement.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ethiopian embassy in South Sudan said Amb. Mahdi met with Amb. Wais and discussed the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement and the former thanked the later about his efforts in making sure that peace is achieved in South Sudan.

“Ambassador Nebil Mahdi met with H.E. Ambassador Ismail Wais, IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan. The two exchanged views about the outstanding issues in the implementation of the South Sudan Peace Agreement and the need for a coordinated effort to support the process,” the embassy statement said.

“Ambassador Nebil also thanked the envoy for his relentless effort and accentuated the continuing key role that IGAD would play in the full implementation of the Agreement,” the statement added.