ADDIS ABABA
By Mohamed Taha Tawakel
South Sudan's rivals resumed on Thursday direct talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa after a one-day hiatus.
The talks recommenced after the return of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)'s chief mediator, who had flown to Juba on Tuesday to meet South Sudanese President Salva Kiir.
South Sudan's warring rivals did not meet on Wednesday due to the absence of the African mediators.
Ambassador Seyoum Mesfin, the chief IGAD mediator, returned on Wednesday after holding three successive meetings with Kiir.
A source close to the direct talks said the meeting with Kiir sought to reach understandings over disputed issues.
Mesfin is expected to brief both delegations about his talks with Kiir, sources told Anadolu Agency.
Representatives of Kiir and his sacked vice-president Reik Machar began direct talks, mediated by IGAD, on Monday in an attempt to resolve the crisis in the nascent country.
South Sudan has been shaken by violence since mid-December, when Kiir accused Machar of standing behind a failed coup attempt against him.
A subsequent government crackdown landed many of Machar's supporters in jail, but he managed to flee to Jonglei State, a stronghold of his Nuer tribe.
In the fighting that has raged ever since, more than 190,000 people have reportedly been displaced.
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