By AFPMore by this AuthorVatican CityPope Francis called Thursday on the warring South Sudanese factions to respect the latest armistice after a two-day Vatican retreat aimed at shoring up the fragile peace. Machar was Kiir's vice president until a falling out in 2013 which kick-started a civil war just two years after independence from Sudan. Your people today are yearning for a better future, which can only come about through reconciliation and peace." In 2015 a peace deal was signed that saw Machar return as vice president in 2016, but the deal collapsed within months, with fierce battles in the capital. FLEDMachar fled on foot to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and went into exile in South Africa and later Sudan which played a key role in the latest peace deal.

Source: Daily Nation April 12, 2019 06:45 UTC