uba, South Sudan (CNN) -- Peace talks between
South Sudan's government and rebels entered a
second day Saturday in neighboring Ethiopia, but
the warring sides have yet to embark on face-to-
face negotiations.
No breakthrough came on the first day of talks,
despite pressure from African and Western powers
on South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and the
rebel leader, former Vice President Riek Machar, to
end the conflict.
Mediators met with representatives of both
delegations to try to pin down the issues and set out
a framework for the talks, said the head of an
eastern African trade bloc mediating the effort.
The proxy talks, which involve negotiators from
other African nations, continued Saturday and
"things are on track," said Mahboub Maalim,
executive secretary of the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development.
He dismissed reports that direct talks between the
two parties have been held up.
"Proxy talks are still under way," he said. "Direct
talks have not yet started nor have they been
delayed; direct talks will take place after the
conclusion of the proxy talks."
Key issues at the negotiating table will be the
cessation of hostilities and starting political dialogue,
Maalim said.
"Things are going in the right direction," he said,
adding that it was positive that the two sides had
been willing to send delegations so quickly to
Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, for the talks.
But even as the two sides' teams negotiate, fighting
continued in South Sudan, where three weeks of
violence has claimed more than 1,000 lives and
forced about 200,000 people from their homes.
The U.S. State Department further reduced its
presence in South Sudan on Friday amid concern
over the deteriorating security situation.
About 20 U.S. Embassy staff members were flown
out of the capital, Juba, aboard a C-130 aircraft
manned by U.S. Marines, according to the Defense
Department. Other U.S. citizens in the country have
been urged to leave.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told
reporters Friday that "even as we draw down our
personnel, we continue to be engaged in and
strongly support regional and international efforts to
bring the violence to an end."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior
officials have been in touch repeatedly with leaders
in the region and in South Sudan, Harf said. The
U.S. ambassador to South Sudan remains in Juba.
The U.S. special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan,
Donald Booth, is in Ethiopia for the peace talks, Harf
added.
Heavy fighting
The fighting began in Juba on December 15 but
quickly spread across the country, with reports of
mass killings soon emerging.
Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic group, accused troops
loyal to Machar, from the Nuer community, of trying
to launch a coup. The two men have long been
political rivals, and Kiir dismissed Machar, along
with the Cabinet, in July. Machar has denied
attempting a coup.
Although the conflict began as a political power
struggle, it has taken on an ethnic dimension,
according to the United Nations mission in South
Sudan, including evidence of ethnically targeted
killings.
Some observers have voiced concern that both
sides want to gain the military upper hand before
they even begin to discuss a potential cease-fire.
There is also concern that if concessions are made,
such as on some kind of power-sharing agreement,
it will set a highly detrimental example within South
Sudan and the wider region.
South Sudan is the world's youngest nation, having
seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war.
However, long-standing tensions have fueled the
latest unrest.
Some of the heaviest fighting over the past three
weeks has been in Bor, the strategically important
capital city of Jonglei state, to the north of Juba.
Bor's mayor, Majak Nhial, told CNN on Friday that
he does not believe the talks will work.
"The rebels are using them to buy time while they
are moving forces from the north to the south," he
said, showing pictures of mangled bodies and
destruction purportedly caused by rebels in his
town.
The rebel forces include ethnic Nuer from the so-
called White Army, a militia loyal to Machar. The
youths are known as the White Army for the white
powder they use to cover their skin as an insect
repellent.
"To get the White Army to reach the capital, they
must clear the way and Bor stands in the middle,"
Nhial said.
The mayor fears that if other tribes join the rebel
movement, the country will break apart. "It is going
to be a disaster for the country," he said.
Humanitarian crisis
Military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told CNN that
South Sudan's army was 20 kilometers (about 12
miles) outside the city of Bor on Friday.
A day earlier, he said that the Sudan People's
Liberation Army was trying to stop the rebel forces
from advancing on the capital, about 200 kilometers
(120 miles) away.
Kiir has declared a state of emergency for Jonglei
state and northern Unity state.
Humanitarian agencies have warned of dire
conditions for the estimated 200,000 who have fled
the violence, with many lacking clean water and
sanitation in makeshift camps.
The fighting in Bor has led as many as 76,000 to
seek sanctuary in Awerial, in neighboring Lakes
state, according to the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.CNN
South Sudan's government and rebels entered a
second day Saturday in neighboring Ethiopia, but
the warring sides have yet to embark on face-to-
face negotiations.
No breakthrough came on the first day of talks,
despite pressure from African and Western powers
on South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and the
rebel leader, former Vice President Riek Machar, to
end the conflict.
Mediators met with representatives of both
delegations to try to pin down the issues and set out
a framework for the talks, said the head of an
eastern African trade bloc mediating the effort.
The proxy talks, which involve negotiators from
other African nations, continued Saturday and
"things are on track," said Mahboub Maalim,
executive secretary of the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development.
He dismissed reports that direct talks between the
two parties have been held up.
"Proxy talks are still under way," he said. "Direct
talks have not yet started nor have they been
delayed; direct talks will take place after the
conclusion of the proxy talks."
Key issues at the negotiating table will be the
cessation of hostilities and starting political dialogue,
Maalim said.
"Things are going in the right direction," he said,
adding that it was positive that the two sides had
been willing to send delegations so quickly to
Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, for the talks.
But even as the two sides' teams negotiate, fighting
continued in South Sudan, where three weeks of
violence has claimed more than 1,000 lives and
forced about 200,000 people from their homes.
The U.S. State Department further reduced its
presence in South Sudan on Friday amid concern
over the deteriorating security situation.
About 20 U.S. Embassy staff members were flown
out of the capital, Juba, aboard a C-130 aircraft
manned by U.S. Marines, according to the Defense
Department. Other U.S. citizens in the country have
been urged to leave.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told
reporters Friday that "even as we draw down our
personnel, we continue to be engaged in and
strongly support regional and international efforts to
bring the violence to an end."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other senior
officials have been in touch repeatedly with leaders
in the region and in South Sudan, Harf said. The
U.S. ambassador to South Sudan remains in Juba.
The U.S. special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan,
Donald Booth, is in Ethiopia for the peace talks, Harf
added.
Heavy fighting
The fighting began in Juba on December 15 but
quickly spread across the country, with reports of
mass killings soon emerging.
Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic group, accused troops
loyal to Machar, from the Nuer community, of trying
to launch a coup. The two men have long been
political rivals, and Kiir dismissed Machar, along
with the Cabinet, in July. Machar has denied
attempting a coup.
Although the conflict began as a political power
struggle, it has taken on an ethnic dimension,
according to the United Nations mission in South
Sudan, including evidence of ethnically targeted
killings.
Some observers have voiced concern that both
sides want to gain the military upper hand before
they even begin to discuss a potential cease-fire.
There is also concern that if concessions are made,
such as on some kind of power-sharing agreement,
it will set a highly detrimental example within South
Sudan and the wider region.
South Sudan is the world's youngest nation, having
seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war.
However, long-standing tensions have fueled the
latest unrest.
Some of the heaviest fighting over the past three
weeks has been in Bor, the strategically important
capital city of Jonglei state, to the north of Juba.
Bor's mayor, Majak Nhial, told CNN on Friday that
he does not believe the talks will work.
"The rebels are using them to buy time while they
are moving forces from the north to the south," he
said, showing pictures of mangled bodies and
destruction purportedly caused by rebels in his
town.
The rebel forces include ethnic Nuer from the so-
called White Army, a militia loyal to Machar. The
youths are known as the White Army for the white
powder they use to cover their skin as an insect
repellent.
"To get the White Army to reach the capital, they
must clear the way and Bor stands in the middle,"
Nhial said.
The mayor fears that if other tribes join the rebel
movement, the country will break apart. "It is going
to be a disaster for the country," he said.
Humanitarian crisis
Military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told CNN that
South Sudan's army was 20 kilometers (about 12
miles) outside the city of Bor on Friday.
A day earlier, he said that the Sudan People's
Liberation Army was trying to stop the rebel forces
from advancing on the capital, about 200 kilometers
(120 miles) away.
Kiir has declared a state of emergency for Jonglei
state and northern Unity state.
Humanitarian agencies have warned of dire
conditions for the estimated 200,000 who have fled
the violence, with many lacking clean water and
sanitation in makeshift camps.
The fighting in Bor has led as many as 76,000 to
seek sanctuary in Awerial, in neighboring Lakes
state, according to the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.CNN
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