South Sudan’s rebel leader to return for peace celebration
Riek Machar will serve as President Salva Kiir’s deputy once again under a new deal to end the civil war.
South Sudan’s armed opposition leader Riek Machar is coming home on Wednesday under the country’s latest peace deal, more than two years after he went into exile.
Lam Paul Gabriel told reporters that Mr Machar is returning to take part in a nationwide peace celebration, leading a small delegation but not bringing his own security despite concerns for his safety.
The spokesman said “if this peace has to be implemented, we need to trust each other”.
That arrangement has twice collapsed in deadly fighting.
South Sudan’s five-year civil war has killed almost 400,000 people as a result of disease as well as violence, according to a recent estimate.
