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Africa South Sudan civil war peace talks collapse

PEACE talks aimed at ending South Sudan’s five-year civil war collapsed yesterday when President Salva Kiir rejected working again with opposition leader Riek Machar.

“This is simply because we have had enough of him,” government spokesman Michael Makuei said.

The two men met this week in Ethiopia on its prime minister’s invitation, shaking hands and being coaxed into an awkward embrace as they held direct talks in Addis Ababa — their first face-to-face meeting in almost two years.

But it became clear that, while South Sudan’s government was open to having the opposition in the vice-president’s role, it would not countenance Mr Machar’s return to the post.

Mr Machar left the country in July 2016 after new fighting erupted in the capital Juba, ending a brief attempt at peace in which he returned to his role as Mr Kiir’s deputy.

The two sides will meet again on Monday in Sudan.

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