A South Sudanese minister on Friday said he is hopeful that the recently extended ceasefire agreement in Sudan can be used to push for face-to-face negotiation talks between the warring parties, reported The Investing.com.
On Friday, Deng Dau Deng, acting minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has already talked with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, who accepted to hold direct talks with his rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
“We hope that this particular ceasefire will have an impact on the lives of Sudanese people, those who are in Khartoum and those who are outside,” Deng told foreign diplomats in South Sudan’s capital city Juba, during a briefing on the situation in neighboring Sudan.
The minister said the government is hoping that the attention will now turn to face-to-face talks between the leaders of the warring sides as war cannot be won on the battlefield.
Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) appointed President Kiir, Kenyan President William Ruto, and Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh to lead ceasefire negotiation talks in Sudan.
Deng said that foreign meddling and interference will only complicate the conflict. He said he believes Sudanese are capable of resolving their internal differences themselves.
About 16,000 people have entered South Sudan fleeing fighting in Sudan which erupted on April 15 between the SAF and the RSF.
Deng said the number of people fleeing Sudan and crossing into South Sudan across the border has been increasing, so, the government is finding out on how to allocate returnees and refugees to different places in the country to avoid congestion.
He added that about 500 people arrive daily in the Bahr El Ghazal region from the 12 border crossing points with Sudan.
