JUBA
By Okech Francis
The archbishop of Canterbury, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican community, has called for a comprehensive reconciliation process in war-stricken South Sudan.
"The reconciliation process must be led by the local people of the country, not by outsiders," Archbishop Justin Welby told a press briefing in capital Juba.
Welby arrived in South Sudan on Thursday morning for his first visit to the nascent country.
He was welcomed at Juba International Airport by leaders of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan.
The archbishop immediately paid a courtesy visit to President Salva Kiir at the latter's home in Juba, where they discussed the country's ongoing conflict.
"We long to see peace reestablished fully and an end to the crisis," he told reporters. "We're anxious to help in any way that we can."
"I advised the president to foster reconciliation and forgiveness so that this country might see peace once again," he said after meeting Kiir.
Welby promised to accompany and support a reconciliation commission headed by Bishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.
He went on to urge the people of South Sudan to learn to coexist peacefully.
Bul described Welby's visit as a show of solidarity with South Sudan at a time of crisis.
For his part, Fr. Mark Lotade, presidential adviser for religious affairs, urged Welby to inform the international community about the situation in South Sudan.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
