South Sudan peace talks

Ethiopian government spokesman Getachew Reda said on Wednesday that delegations from both sides had arrived in Addis Ababa.

A spokesman for East Africa's regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is hosting the talks, said "negotiations will focus on a monitored ceasefire," before turning to "the underlying political problems."

The two sides were set to begin formal talks on Thursday. Former vice-president Riek Machar, who has been leading an insurgency against President Salva Kiir, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday via satellite phone from an unknown location within the country that he was not ready to agree to an immediate ceasefire and his forces were marching on the capital, Juba.

"There's no cessation of hostilities yet," Machar said. "That is what the delegation is going to Addis Ababa is going to discuss and negotiate. I will follow later, once the negotiations have resulted in a cessation of hostilities. It depends on it and when that is achieved."

‘Tactical retreat'

South Sudan's government said on Wednesday that it had lost the key town of Bor in the latest clashes with rebels loyal to the country's former vice-president.

Government troops made a "tactical retreat" to an outpost three kilometers (two miles) away on Tuesday, Nhial Majak Nhial, mayor of Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, said.

"I'm worried that the ongoing fighting in Bor might scupper the start of these talks," Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom, who is the current chairperson of the IGAD, said on Wednesday. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda are the six member countries of IGAD.

Fighting in the world's most recently established nation began on December 15, when President Kiir accused Machar of a coup attempt. Since then at least 1,000 people have been killed, oil production has been interrupted, and Western and regional powers have raised concerns of an all-out civil war breaking out.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontiers reported that about 70,000 civilians had fled Bor, seeking refuge in the nearby town of Awerial. Others were forced to hide in swamps. "Living conditions are verging on the catastrophic," MSF said.

Continued fighting across the country has seen more than 180,000 people displaced, according to the United Nations.

jlw,tj/pfd (AFP, Reuters)