“It was an opportunity for us to end the war”, Machar said.
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“A peace that can not be sustained can not be signed”, Kiir said, before leaving Juba.
The makeup of the rebel delegation was not clear late Sunday, less than a week after two rebel generals said they were no longer allied with Kiir’s chief rival, rebel leader Machar.
“That peace needs to be guided and must be respected by both warring parties, but not a temporary deal that will return the South Sudanese into another killing”, he said. Mediators however said progress had been made.
In the 1990’s the world’s attention focused on Sudan once again as civil war between the country’s ethnic Africans in the south and the Arab-dominated government in the north produced such suffering and depravation it could not be ignored.
However, numerous rounds of negotiations have failed to end the hostilities that have killed over 10,000 people and displaced more than 2 million.
Elia Lomuro, South Sudan’s cabinet affairs minister, said that Kiir would join the talks but it would not be possible to sign a full peace deal until all opposition factions could join the agreement.
Although certain details of the agreement remain unclear, the settlement reportedly includes the cessation of hostilities and a power-sharing plan that would see the establishment of a transitional, coalition government before new elections can be held.
For his part, Machar insisted the deal he signed on Monday was “meaningful”.
Miami Heat player Luol Deng-a South Sudanese native who came to the U.S.to attend high school-posted three messages on Instagram expressing optimism that there would be soon be peace in the war-torn country.
Representatives of the two leaders had been discussing the deal in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa since August 6, working on a resolution that would forestall the threat of increased sanctions from the United States, likely through the United Nations or the European Union.
Carlos Gomes, the managing director of the SAB Miller-owned Southern Sudan Beverages, said a lack of diesel, foreign currency and imported ingredients had already forced the brewery to slash beer production by three-quarters and send a quarter of its 405 employees home on rotational leave.
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South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, descended into chaos in December 2013 when a political row between Kiir and his deputy Machar spiralled into armed conflict that reopened ethnic faultlines.
