S. Sudan president reverses decision to skip peace talks

East African leaders and international mediators met in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Sunday, one day ahead of a deadline for South Sudan's government and warring factions to strike a peace deal or risk sanctions. The 20-month civil war which has engulfed the young country has costs tens of thousands of lives, and diplomats have warned that failure to reach an agreement could trigger "serious consequences" for both sides.

Despite the dire situation, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (pictured above left) originally announced that he would not attend Sunday's meeting and would send Vice President James Wani Igga in his place.

Kiir argued that an effective deal was impossible due to a split amongst the rebel troops. However, in a last minute reversal, a minister in Kiir's cabinet said he expected the president to travel to Ethiopia later on Sunday.

The current round of talks began earlier in August, mediated by the regional eight-nation African trade bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United Nations and the African Union, alongside representatives from China, Britain, Norway and the United States.

"We expect the parties to be represented in Addis Ababa by their principals, in order to negotiate in good faith and sign an agreement," IGAD and its partners said in a statement.

Grant Shapps, the British Minister for Africa, warned on Friday that South Sudan faced "targeted sanctions" and a weapons embargo if they could not reach an agreement.

Atrocities across the country

Earlier on Sunday, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, who has supported Kiir's government with troops, announced that he had held closed-door talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta was set to join them later in the day.

The civil war began in December 2013 when President Kiir claimed his ex-deputy Riek Machar had been planning a coup, which set off a chain of revenge killings that ended up splitting the nation along ethnic lines. The war has displaced 2.2 million people and left many regions with a high risk of famine. Atrocities including rape, the murder of children, and castration have characterized much of the violence.

es/bk (AFP, dpa)