IGAD mulls summit in South Sudan after direct talks

Regional leaders will soon hold a summit in South Sudan after direct talks between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar to resolve the month old conflict, said Kenyan president in a statement President Uhuru Kenyatta who held talks with visiting South Sudan leader, Kiir, and Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Tedros Adhanom said the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is firmly seized to the conflict in South Sudan. Kenyatta stressed that the regional bloc will not accept fragmentation of the ongoing peace talks on the South Sudan crisis. "President Kenyatta who is the IGAD rapporteur said following IGAD requests the face to face talks will take place in the shortest time possible," said the statement issued after the meeting in Nairobi. President Kiir on Friday expressed willingness to travel to Ethiopia for talks and to consider forming a transitional government as part of efforts to end the crisis in South Sudan. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Juba after holding talks with President Kiir that he had made it clear to the South Sudanese leader that he needed to do everything in his power to end the violence. Regional experts have described the upcoming meeting of Machar and Kiir as critical to the stability of South Sudan which has been engulfed in fighting since mid-December 2013.