South Sudan''s president Kiir says ready to accept peace deal

7/20/2018 - 5:16:00 PM

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said he is ready to accept a peace deal to end a civil war and set up an inclusive new government.

Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir hold hands with Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar during a South Sudan peace meeting as part of talks to negotiate an end to a civil war that broke out in 2013, in Khartoum, Sudan, June 25, 2018. (Photo: Getty Image)

The deal being negotiated in Sudan would give the country five vice presidents and also covers security and power sharing.

"The people of South Sudan are looking for peace and if that arrangement can bring about peace to the people of South Sudan, I am ready to take it," said Kiir late on Juluy 18 at a swearing-in ceremony for his foreign minister.

"People talk about exclusivity, nobody is to be left out of the government. I accept it," he said.

South Sudan erupted in conflict in 2013 because of a dispute between Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar. Tens of thousands have been killed, a quarter of the population has fled their homes and the oil-dependent economy has been wrecked.

A 2015 peace deal briefly halted the fighting but it fell apart after Machar returned to the capital the following year.

The conflict has mostly been fought along ethnic lines, pitting Kiir's dominant Dinka tribe and its rival, the ethnic Nuer of Machar.

This week Kiir named Nhial Deng Nhial, ex presidential advisor and also his chief negotiator in the Khartoum talks as his new foreign minister, replacing Deng Alor.

Source: NDO

Removing “bottlenecks” in global problems

The Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the world’s leading developed and emerging economies (G20) recently held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil emphasised the need to reform global governance institutions, especially the United Nations Security Council. The meeting is also an opportunity for G20 to find solutions to a series of hot issues facing the world, such as poverty, climate change, and conflict.

ASEAN FMs issue statement on maintaining, promoting stability in maritime sphere in Southeast Asia

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers on December 30 issued a statement on maintaining and promoting stability in the maritime sphere in Southeast Asia.

Optimistic signals of the world economy

The world economy has overcome a challenging year, but has proven more resilient than expected. The Financial Times (UK) commented that 2023 was a positive year for the world economy as the economic surprise index collated by Citigroup shew that actual data have underwhelmed economists’ predictions for much of the past months. These economic trends are the basis for optimism about the world economy in 2024.