S. Sudan's Kiir, Machar to meet in Uganda today

South Sudanese President and Riek Machar are expected to meet in Uganda on Thursday.

The meeting will focus on security issues, only a few days before the scheduled date for the formation of a unity government.

The formation of this unity government, initially scheduled for May, has been postponed to November 12, due to disagreements on unresolved issues, such as the formation of a unified army and borders of the south Sudanese states.

The meeting will take place within the framework of mediation led by the regional organisation IGAD, of which Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is a key player.

Observers find it difficult to predict what will happen on November 12, but they agree that progress in implementing the peace agreement signed in September 2018 in Addis Ababa is insufficient.

Riek Machar on October 20, called for a further postponement of the formation of the unity government, in which he is to serve as first vice-president.

According to him, security issues must be resolved, otherwise the country could sink back into deadly fighting as in 2016, when it was forced into exile following the failure of a peace agreement.

The civil conflict in which the country has been engulfed since 2013, has killed more than 380,000 people. It has forced over 4 million South Sudanese to flee their homes.

AFP