South Sudan postpones signing of long-awaited peace deal

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar have indefinitely postponed a long-awaited peace treaty intended to curb fighting between government and rebel factions.

South Sudan plunged into a brutal civil war following independence in 2011, which pitted Kiir’s ethnic Dinka forces against Machar’s ethnic Nuer and displaced nearly a third of the country’s population. A peace treaty signed in August 2015 collapsed after violence re-erupted.

Since the resumption of talks in September 2018, Kiir has agreed to share power with his newly elected VP. An important conciliatory step has been the recent agreement on governor selection—Kiir’s faction will nominate six state governors, Machar’s faction will nominate three and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance will nominate one.

However, the issue of a joint security force remains unresolved, which could further delay the treaty’s signing. As the two camps remain ethnically segregated and peace talks stall, expect the recent uptick in violence to be exacerbated by prolonged domestic lawlessness.

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