Talks to end the South Sudan conflict have opened
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's foreign ministry says.
Negotiators for the government and rebel sides
have been meeting mediators but have not yet held
face-to-face talks, it is understood.
Delegates began arriving in the Ethiopian capital on
Wednesday but talks were delayed until the full
negotiations teams had arrived.
Meanwhile, the US is moving out some of its
embassy staff from South Sudan.
The state department announced a "further
drawdown" of its embassy in Juba, and said it
would no longer be providing consular services to
US citizens in the country.
It also urged citizens to leave on an evacuation
flight from Juba "to the nearest safe haven country"
on Friday.
At least 1,000 people have died and more than
180,000 people have been displaced in fighting that
erupted in mid-December.
What began as a power struggle between President
Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar has
taken on the overtones of an ethnic conflict,
correspondents say.
Aid workers are warning of a potential humanitarian
crisis as tens of thousands of people are living
without shelter, clean water and sanitation.
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's foreign ministry says.
Negotiators for the government and rebel sides
have been meeting mediators but have not yet held
face-to-face talks, it is understood.
Delegates began arriving in the Ethiopian capital on
Wednesday but talks were delayed until the full
negotiations teams had arrived.
Meanwhile, the US is moving out some of its
embassy staff from South Sudan.
The state department announced a "further
drawdown" of its embassy in Juba, and said it
would no longer be providing consular services to
US citizens in the country.
It also urged citizens to leave on an evacuation
flight from Juba "to the nearest safe haven country"
on Friday.
At least 1,000 people have died and more than
180,000 people have been displaced in fighting that
erupted in mid-December.
What began as a power struggle between President
Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar has
taken on the overtones of an ethnic conflict,
correspondents say.
Aid workers are warning of a potential humanitarian
crisis as tens of thousands of people are living
without shelter, clean water and sanitation.
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