NEWSLINE

South Sudan's president and rebel chief signed a ceasefire deal. Members of the White Army, a South Sudanese anti-government militia, attend a rally in Nasir on April 14, 2014. [AFP Photo]   President Salva Kiir and rebel boss Riek Machar, who shook hands and then prayed together, "agreed that immediately all hostile activities will stop within 24 hours from the signing of this agreement", said head mediator Seyoum Mesfin, from the East African regional bloc IGAD. "Fighting will stop," he added. Kiir, explaining his olive branch to his bitter rival, told reporters that as leader he had in the past accepted compromises and had "been in a position to make peace with everybody". Machar, who swapped his military fatigues for a business suit, said he was "happy" at the signing of the agreement. The peace deal, which followed intense lobbying from world leaders with Washington slapping sancti

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has pledged to implement the peace agreement he signed with his former deputy Riek Machar, now rebel leader in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa without fail. 10 May 2014 President Kiir and Machar at the signing of the agreement in Addis Ababa on Friday May 9, as the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn looks on. [Reuters photo] Juba, 10 May 2014 - "I'm not here to respond to what my brother here (Machar) has said. I'm here to sign the peace agreement," Kiir said. The president declined to talk about a coup attempt  but said a "gun doesn’t fire itself". "I want to assure you that the party and army I'm leading will implement this agreement without fail," the president said. "I cannot let my people continue bleeding. I am the president and responsible for all the people of South Sudan." The agreement mediated by the Ethiopian prime minister Hailemari

An official says that South Sudan's rebel leader has arrived in Ethiopia for talks with President Salva Kiir on Friday. 09 May 2014 President Salva Kiir (Left) and Rebel Leader Dr Riek Machar. [Courtesy photo | File] ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Tewolde Gebremeskel, a top official with the regional body sponsoring the talks, confirmed Thursday that Machar has arrived in the Ethiopian city of Gambella. According to the BBC, the advanced team of President also arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa on Thursday. The Friday talks will be the first time the leaders of South Sudan's two warring sides are meeting face-to-face since violence broke out in December, killing thousands of people. The meeting between Kiir and his former vice president, Riek Machar, is expected to last one day. More than 1.3 million people have fled their homes since the ethnically targeted violence began in December. Aid workers fear mass hunger unless the vi

South Sudanese youth living in Melbourne, Australia have condemned the UN Mission in South Sudan’s (UNMISS) mistake of transporting arms by road instead of airlifting them. 18 March 2014 South Sudanese youth protesting the UNMISS Partiality in Melbourne, Australia. [Courtesy photo]  2014 (Gurtong)- “It is clear that UNMISS is supporting the rebellion in the country and South Sudanese youth here in Melbourne condemn this behavior,” a press statement issued by the youth in Melbourne partly reads. The youth call for Ms Hilde Johnson, the head of UNMISS in Juba to resign immediately and review of UNMISS’ operation mandate. “We are sick of war and are against anyone supporting the war by arming the rebellion in our country. Hilde Johnson is doing just that arming the rebellions in the country and she must go,” they said. Recently, the government troops (security personnel) intercepted weapons in a UNMISS convoy of 12 trucks marked as carryi

NEWSLINE: Malakal IDPs Desperately Need Relief Aid : The internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Malakal town desparately need relief assistnace.   March 2014 ID... text

The internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Malakal town desparately need relief assistnace.   March 2014 IDPs at a UNMISS clinic in Malakal. [File]  [Gurtong] - They have expressed disappountnent in the government for its failure to rescue them from the rebels' "atrocities" daily. The IDPs say people are being killed daily when found from their hideouts. IDPs in the United Nations' compound said their colleagues in churches and hiding in their houses risk being killed as the rebels still control Malakal town. Malakal fell into the hands of the Anti-government forces led by the country's ex-vice president Dr. Riek Machar, now turned rebel leader since mid-February after they overan the government forces there. "People are suffering. They have no food and water to drink. The town is looted," an IDP lamented. "So, there is no hope of life for those who are now in Churches and in their hideouts in town.&q

NEWSLINE: South Sudan: LET US BE AMBASSADOR​S OF PEACE : By Francis Chol South Sudanese let us choose peace.  Peace is a commodity that cannot be bought from any nearby shop.  It does ... text