South Sudan government and rebels sign ceasefire deal

South Sudan’s government and rebels signed a ceasefire yesterday to end more than five weeks of fighting that divided Africa’s newest nation and brought it to the brink of civil war.

Fighting between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing the vice-president he sacked in July, Riek Machar, erupted in mid-December.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than half a million have fled their homes, prompting the regional grouping of nations, IGAD, to initiate peace talks.

The pact is expected to be implemented within 24 hours of the signing, mediators said.

But making the ceasefire hold could test Mr Machar, whose forces include loyalists as well as more autonomous groups battling the government forces.

"The crisis that gripped South Sudan is a mere manifestation of the challenges that face the young and fledgling state," Seyoum Mesfin, IGAD's chief mediator, told the signing ceremony.

'Unpredictable'
"I believe that the post-war challenges will be greater than the war itself. The process will be . . . unpredictable and delicate."

South Sudan's defence minister, Kuol Manyang Juuk, said before the deal was reached that Mr Machar did not have enough control to make a ceasefire stick in the oil-producing nation, one of Africa's poorest.

“To the parties, we say: Enough! The killing must end now. The displaced must be able to return to their homes,” said Alexander Rondos, the EU’s special representative for the Horn of Africa, at the signing event.

The conflict has turned along ethnic faultlines, pitting Mr Machar’s Nuer against Mr Kiir’s Dinka people. Several other communities have also taken up weapons. Analysts say the ceasefire does not resolve the broader power struggle.

“It is only the first step to allow space and time for a more substantive political dialogue to take place,” said Douglas Johnson, a historian.

Both sides had said several times since talks began at the start of January they were close to a deal, but disagreements had pushed back a signing. Meanwhile, fighting raged, with the government retaking major towns from rebel forces.

Under pressure
"This deal does not provide answers to South Sudan's current problems. We need a comprehensive political deal," said one rebel official in the Ethiopian capital.

“We are only signing because we, and they, are under pressure.”

Ordinary people in South Sudan’s capital Juba were also sceptical the ceasefire would swiftly end the political rivalry that underpinned the fighting.

“It can solve some of the immediate problems but not all the problems,” said 31-year-old Samuel Kuir Chok. “I’m not optimistic . . . because this guy [Machar] wants to be president at all costs.”

South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011. – (Reuters)