Fighting has killed thousands of people, driven more than 2 million
people from their homes and created a food crisis for many of the
nation's 11 million people. Oil output, the main source of income, has
plummeted along with global crude prices.
South
Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar addresses a news conference in
Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, October 18, 2015.
A team of rebel officials landed in South Sudan's capital Juba
on Monday to prepare for the return of the rebel leader next month and
the formation of a transitional government that was agreed in a peace
agreement.
President Salva Kiir and his rival, Riek Machar,
the deputy president he sacked in 2013 in a political row that blew up
into a conflict, signed an accord in August. But both sides have since
accused the other of violating the pact with new attacks.
Fighting
has killed thousands of people, driven more than 2 million people from
their homes and created a food crisis for many of the nation's 11
million people. Oil output, the main source of income, has plummeted
along with global crude prices.
He
was speaking shortly after arriving in Juba, alongside dozens of other
rebel officials. About 600 rebel officials are expected to return by the
end of the year.
Earlier, rebel spokesman James
Gatdet Dak said the transitional government, or national unity
government, would be formed by Jan. 22.
"We
hope that with the arrival of the advance team from our side such
activities will successfully take off and lead to the timely formation
of the transitional government," he said.
This would depend on how fast other steps agreed in the peace deal were implemented, he said.
The peace deal also included withdrawing military forces from Juba and integrating the police force and army, he said.
The
government and rebel factions had been holding on-off peace talks since
shortly after the conflict began in mid-December 2013, but several
ceasefires agreed in the past two years were violated, often swiftly
after any signing.
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