South Sudan’s Main Opposition Party Rejects President’s Call for Dialogue to Avoid Civil War

South Sudan’s main opposition party on Thursday dismissed a presidential call for dialogue to avoid the country slipping back into a civil war due to stalled peace talks. Pal Mai Deng, a spokesperson for the opposition SPLM-IO, said President Salva Kiir “must release political and military leaders of the SPLM-IO who are in detention to show his seriousness about the dialogue.” During the reopening of parliament on Wednesday, Kiir said there was a need for unity and national reconciliation, adding that the “doors of peace remain open.” “The suffering of our people must not be prolonged by the continued rejection of dialogue,” he said. The situation in South Sudan remains tense after Vice President Riek Machar — Kiir’s former rival — was placed under house arrest following an attack on army bases in March. Several members of the SPLM-IO opposition party have gone into exile fearing arrests. South Sudan signed a peace agreement in 2018, ending a five-year civil war in which nearly 400,000 people died as forces loyal to Kiir and Machar clashed…The United Nation warned last month that a 2018 peace agreement was on the verge of collapse due to escalating violence, political repression, and foreign military involvement. AP