New vice president for South Sudan

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has sworn in opposition leader Taban Deng Gai as his vice president, less than 24 hours after dismissing Riek Machar.

Machar, who took up the post of vice president in April, is said to be in hiding. His whereabouts have been unknown since his Juba residence was attacked earlier this month.

Deng Gai's appointment raises fears of more fighting, because most opposition generals and militia remain loyal to Machar.

"Deng Gai is not the leader, the troops will not follow him, so it's basically a replacement on paper," Annette Weber from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin told DW.

A faction of the armed opposition selected Deng Gai to replace Machar, claiming that the coalition government could not function if Machar was not present in person.

"The circumstances forced us to fill a vacancy so that we save our nation," Deng Gai said in a speech after he was sworn in.

But loyalists to Machar are alleging a conspiracy to remove him. The appointment of Deng Gai is "totally illegal," said Nyarji Roman, a spokesman for Machar's faction.

Roman also accused the government of sending troops to hunt down Machar in his hiding place.

Machar has said he would not return to Juba until an outside force, such as an intervention force proposed by the African Union, was put in place to restore calm to the capital.

Weber said a "third force" might become necessary, because in the last two years of fighting "the majority of people killed were civilians." However, conflicting interests in the region mean that one should be "cautious about a force coming from neighboring countries."

A power struggle between Kiir and Machar escalated into a military conflict in December 2013, killing tens of thousands and displacing more than two million people.

Peace hopes

There were hopes for an end to the hostilities when the pair signed a peace agreement in 2015. A government of national unity was formed and Machar was appointed vice president, the post he had held before the conflict started.

The optimism waned when violence broke out in the capital Juba in early July 2016 and forces from both sides battled each other with tanks, helicopters and other heavy weapons.

South Sudan's politics have long been plagued by splits and rivalries as leaders switch allegiances in the struggle for power and influence in the nation which only gained independence from Sudan five years ago.

Deng Gai, the newly appointed vice president, was a chief negotiator on behalf of Machar's 'government in opposition' (SPLM-IO) group in the talks that led to last year's peace agreement.

Deng Gai broke ranks with Machar after he defied an ultimatum from Kiir to return to Juba and salvage the peace deal, or face replacement.

Kuajien Lual Wechtuor, representative of the SPLM-IO in Germany, denied there was any rift within the group. "Our movement is united. Deng Gai is just a person who defected from us," he told DW.

Weber, who was in South Sudan shortly before the last outbreak of fighting, said Kiir and Machar "seem to be going for a zero-sum game." Neither was willing "to share power or resources."