AU, UN appeal for South Sudanese leaders to embrace dialogue to ease tensions

JUBA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The African Union and United Nations missions in South Sudan as well as peace monitors on Friday appealed for calm and called on South Sudanese leaders to embrace dialogue to ease tensions in the country.

A high-level delegation comprising African Union Mission in South Sudan (AUMISS), the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), including the leadership of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), urged the leaders to recommit to the full implementation of a 2018 peace deal.

"The delegation encouraged the presidency to uphold dialogue and improve the communication between and among the members of the presidency," the delegation said in a joint statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The statement came after two days of consultations with the presidency on the rising political tension in the country.

There has been intermittent fighting since August last year between the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) under First Vice President Riek Machar and the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) in Unity, Upper Nile, and Western Equatoria states.

The delegation urged the transitional government to develop a roadmap to set out how to complete what needs to be implemented before the the transitional period ends in 11 months.

The delegation highlighted the pending tasks of the agreement, such as the unification of forces, the constitution-making process and preparations for elections.

It appealed to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-In-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), which recently withdrew from various security mechanisms, to rescind its suspension of participation in the institutions and mechanisms, including the RJMEC and the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM), the body monitoring the December 2017 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.