South Sudanese government urged to sign proposed peace document

A senior South Sudanese official Monday expected the government to sign a peace document recently proposed by the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development in Africa (IGAD).

"Peace in South Sudan has become inevitable and I expect the government to arrive at a discernible vision and eventually sign the document," Martin Elia Lomuro, South Sudan's Cabinet Minister, told reporters in Juba following a meeting of the government regarding the peace document.

President Salva Kiir Mayardit invited state parliaments, state governors and heads of commission representatives to discuss the IAGD proposed peace document during South Sudan's comprehensive government meeting Monday.

Last week, Riek Machar, leader of South Sudan's major rebel group, signed the IGAD proposed peace deal with the Secretary General of the ruling party, Pagan Amum, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

However, South Sudan's President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, refused to sign the deal, demanding a two-week extension.

Lomuro said the meeting reviewed the document focusing on points where the government expressed reservations.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013 when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension, pitting president Dinka's tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes killed thousands of South Sudanese and forced around 1.9 million individuals to flee their homes.