South Sudan’s vice president expresses concerns over ongoing peace talks

By DENG MACHOL
Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan’s vice president says peace talks in neighboring Kenya have failed to acknowledge the country’s peace agreement established in 2018, alleging a new draft agreement is aimed at replacing the original peace deal. Riek Machar in a protest letter to the talks’ mediator said the draft established alternative institutions to replace or run in parallel with those established by the previous peace agreement. The former rebel leader signed an agreement with President Salva Kiir in 2018 that ended a five-year civil war that killed about 400,000 people. The two were on opposite sides in the war and Machar was appointed vice president after the 2018 deal.