Vice President of South Sudan Dr. James Wani Igga said his government had agreed on some points in the peace talks, adding that it has been working to resolve the outstanding issues.
Igga stressed that the government is exerting more efforts to narrow the gaps with the opposition groups at the peace talks in Khartoum.
“We are continuously trying to narrow the gaps and we are doing so, even in the last proposal from Khartoum about the outstanding issues,” said Dr. Igga.
Speaking during the commemoration of Egypt National Day in Juba, the vice president said the government is doing its best to bring lasting peace to South Sudan.
“As for peace, we are doing our level best and so far so good. There are many areas on which we have agreed with the armed groups, armed oppositions, and we disagreed in other areas.”
Meanwhile, Sudanese mediation team announced that an agreement has been reached on outstanding issues of governance and the signing ceremony will take place today (Thursday).
Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kareemullah Khader said in a statement, read by Asharq Al-Awsat, that the mediation team submitted last Monday a draft agreement and asked the parties to clarify their position accordingly.
The mediation said they didn’t receive any rejection from the parties to the process when the proposal was read in a meeting held at the premises of the talks on Tuesday.
But it pointed out that they received some improvement notes.
The appropriate notes will be included in the agreed text, and the agreement will be initiated today.
Khader, however, said that the formal signing ceremony will take place on Thursday, July 26, under the auspices of guarantor of the Convention President Omar al-Bashir, heads of states of Intergovernmental Authority on Development state (IGAD) and representatives of a number of interested countries and organizations.
“Signing the agreement will lead to solving all outstanding issues in the conflict in southern Sudan, which was referred by IGAD emergency summit to the mediation summit on June 21,” Khader explained.
