S. Sudan peace mediators begin consultations with warring parties

A new round of peace talks to bring about an all-inclusive and political agreement between the warring parties in South Sudan entered its second day on Wednesday with consultations between mediators and delegates. A statement from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which is mediating the talks said the regional blocs special envoys continued with their consultations with members of the two delegations and other stakeholders.In addition, the envoys also received a preliminary report from the advance team of the IGAD Joint Technical Committee that has been conducting the pre-deployment assessment for the monitoring and verification mechanism, the statement said.The South Sudan political talks between the government and the opposition resumed in Addis Ababa on Tuesday evening. Sources told Xinhua that the negotiations resumed in Addis Ababa after mediators assured opposition negotiators that the political leaders who were detained when South Sudan plunged into violence will be allowed to attend the talks in Addis Ababa.The released political leaders, who had been expected to attend the official launch yesterday, are now on their way from Nairobi and expected to arrive in Addis Ababa tonight accompanied by the Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya, the statement said.The seven political leaders, including Rebecca Garang, widow of the late revered South Sudanese leader John Garang, met Kenyatta in Nairobi on Wednesday to thank him for Kenyas generosity and interest in ensuring that peace and stability was restored to South Sudan.