A new round of peace talks to bring about an all-inclusive and political agreement between the warring parties in South Sudan entered its second day Wednesday with consultations between mediators and delegates.
A statement from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is mediating the talks, said the regional bloc's special envoys continued with their consultations with members of the two delegations and other stakeholders, Xinhua reported.
"In addition, the envoys also received a preliminary report from the advance team of the IGAD Joint Technical Committee that has been conducting the pre-deployment assessment for the monitoring and verification mechanism," the statement said.
The South Sudan political talks between the government and the opposition resumed in Addis Ababa Tuesday evening.
Sources said the negotiations resumed in Addis Ababa after mediators assured opposition negotiators that the political leaders who were detained when South Sudan plunged into violence will be allowed to attend the talks in Addis Ababa.
The seven political leaders, including Rebecca Garang, widow of the late revered South Sudanese leader John Garang, met Kenyatta in Nairobi Wednesday to thank him for Kenya's generosity and interest in ensuring that peace and stability was restored to South Sudan.
The political leaders flew to Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to join all-party talks aimed at resolving the political crisis in Africa's youngest nation. The two sides signed a ceasefire last month following peace talks mediated by IGAD, leading to a relative lull.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and some 870,000 others have fled their homes, 145,000 of them to neighbouring countries and 75,000 to United Nations bases within the country, since fighting broke out Dec 15 last year between the forces of President Salva Kiir and former deputy president Riek Machar.
