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| South Sudan Leader Appears to Take Major Step to End Conflict | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The president of South Sudan appeared to take a major step on Thursday toward ending a disastrous civil war that began more than two years ago in the young African nation, reappointing his political rival as first vice president. | The president of South Sudan appeared to take a major step on Thursday toward ending a disastrous civil war that began more than two years ago in the young African nation, reappointing his political rival as first vice president. |
| The decree by the president, Salva Kiir, reported on state news media, fulfills an important condition of a peace agreement reached in August but repeatedly violated. It basically restores Mr. Kiir’s civil war adversary, Riek Machar, to the position he had held until 2013, when he was dismissed by Mr. Kiir in a crisis that led to escalating violence, ethnic mayhem, mass displacement and severe hunger in South Sudan. | |
| The world’s newest country, with vast natural resources including oil, South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and was the beneficiary of widespread largess and good will. Its descent into chaos in December 2013 created one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises outside the Syria conflict. | The world’s newest country, with vast natural resources including oil, South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and was the beneficiary of widespread largess and good will. Its descent into chaos in December 2013 created one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises outside the Syria conflict. |
| Mr. Kiir, who is from the Dinka ethnic group, and Mr. Machar, a Nuer, have been under intense diplomatic pressure, including the threat of United Nations sanctions, to reach a reconciliation. | |
| As of Thursday night, it remained unclear how quickly — or even whether — Mr. Machar would accept Mr. Kiir’s decree and return to the South Sudan capital, Juba, to take up his restored post. Mr. Machar, who has been staying in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has repeatedly questioned the sincerity of Mr. Kiir’s statements about his desire to resolve the conflict. | |
| “What is important would be an announcement by Machar himself that he is ready to go to Juba,” said Daniel Bekele, the Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “If Machar is going back to Juba, that would be a step in the right direction in de-escalating tensions.” | |
| Mr. Machar was deeply angered when Mr. Kiir changed the structure of the government in December, dissolving the nation’s 10 regional states and creating 28 new ones in what appeared to be a move to secure more power. Mr. Machar said the change undermined the peace agreement, which calls for the formation of a transitional government of national unity. | |
| The decree restoring Mr. Machar to his former position came a little more than a week after the African Union issued a report painting an especially grim picture of the civil war’s effects, with little sign that the conflict was winding down. | The decree restoring Mr. Machar to his former position came a little more than a week after the African Union issued a report painting an especially grim picture of the civil war’s effects, with little sign that the conflict was winding down. |
| “There is limited consolidation of peace, a worrying economic decline and violence ongoing,” the report said. “The economy is in particularly dire straits, with foreign reserves rapidly diminishing, growing inflation and rapid depreciation of the national currency.” | “There is limited consolidation of peace, a worrying economic decline and violence ongoing,” the report said. “The economy is in particularly dire straits, with foreign reserves rapidly diminishing, growing inflation and rapid depreciation of the national currency.” |
| Last month the United Nations said in a report prepared by its mission in South Sudan and its human rights office in Geneva that the conflict had devolved into a murderous struggle between government and opposition forces, with widespread atrocities committed by both sides. | Last month the United Nations said in a report prepared by its mission in South Sudan and its human rights office in Geneva that the conflict had devolved into a murderous struggle between government and opposition forces, with widespread atrocities committed by both sides. |
| “The scale, intensity and severity of human rights violations and abuses have increased with the continuation of the hostilities,” the report said, citing large-scale killings, attacks aimed at children and an “unprecedented level” of sexual violence, including gang rape and sexual slavery. | “The scale, intensity and severity of human rights violations and abuses have increased with the continuation of the hostilities,” the report said, citing large-scale killings, attacks aimed at children and an “unprecedented level” of sexual violence, including gang rape and sexual slavery. |