South Sudanese Rebel Leader, Riek Machar, on Wednesday returned to his country from Ethiopia, a rebel representative said, raising hopes of an end to the country’s 28-month civil conflict.
Machar, who is due to take office as vice president under President Salva Kiir, pledged to arrive in Juba on April 18 to prepare for the swearing-in of a transitional unity government.
His arrival in Pagak was preceded by the arrival in Juba of the rebels’ second-in-command Alfred Gore and about 1,300 rebel troops over several weeks.
Machar served as Kiir’s vice president once before, after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
The president’s decision to sack him in 2013 sparked a power struggle that developed into a military conflict in December 2015.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over 2 million displaced in the conflict, while more than 5 million face food insecurity, according to the UN.
However, a peace agreement signed by Kiir and Machar in August did not entirely bring an end to the fighting, and its implementation was delayed.
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