20 April 2016•Update: 28 April 2016
By Parach Mach
JUBA, South Sudan
An end to the bloody two-year civil war in South Sudan remained in the balance Tuesday as uncertainty surrounded the return of rebel leader Riek Machar to capital Juba.
Machar, who has been appointed first vice president in a conciliation government, postponed his return for what a spokesman said were logistical reasons.
Nyarji Roman said the delay was because the government had not granted flight permission. “The first vice president will be arriving tomorrow, April 20, 2016, if all goes well,” he said.
Machar, who was sacked as vice president in July 2013 in a dispute with President Salva Kiir that led to the conflict, had been due to arrive Monday.
The government accused Machar of using delaying tactics to prevent the implementation of the peace agreed in August last year.
“The government did all the necessary preparation for the official reception of the first vice president designate, Riek Machar, but to the disappointment of all Machar did not respect his commitment and thus did not arrive as scheduled... and also today indefinitely called off his return to Juba,” Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told journalists at a news conference.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in a conflict characterized by atrocities. More than 2.4 million fled their homes and nearly 6 million are in need of emergency food aid.
The war has devastated South Sudan’s economy, cutting crude oil production by at least a third to about 160,000 barrels-a-day.
The country split from Sudan in 2011 after an independence referendum and relations remain strained due to disputes over oil revenue and borders.
