The warring parties in South Sudan signed a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement Sunday. The agreement was called “the real beginning” by the South Sudanese government and was welcomed by regional trade bloc IGAD, which has been mediating the negotiations since civil war broke out in South Sudan last year.
Chief negotiator for the government of South Sudan, Nhial Deng Nhial, and chief negotiator for the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), General Taban Deng, signed the implementation matrix and its addendum, and agreed on a timetable for implementation of the peace.
“Let me say this is really a great day not only for the people of South Sudan but also for the entire region because this is again the commitment in the implementation of what the two Principals in front of the Summit, in front of their people and the international community declared that the war in South Sudan is over,” said the Chair of IGAD Special Envoys for South Sudan, Seyoum Mesfin.
The government of South Sudan asserted that this document would lead toward real peace.
South Sudan’s Minister of Information and government spokesperson Michael Makuei said the deal “marks the real beginning of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.”
“Because with this document now, both the forces will be required to provide their deployment, their armaments and with this now, we will be in a position to open up humanitarian corridors and so forth,” said Makuei.
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The agreement follows days after IGAD announced that neighboring countries would seriously interfere in the conflict if the warring parties did not immediately and unconditionally cease all hostilities.
By Day Blakely Donaldson