Dr Riek and President Kiir meeting with Ethiopian PM, June 20, 2018 | Credit | SSBC

The Ethiopian Prime Minister has expressed optimism about peace in South Sudan after meeting President Salva Kiir and Dr.Riek Machar in his office last night.

Dr. Abiy Ahmed received the two leaders yesterday and immediately engaged them in the face-to-face meeting to resolve outstanding issues surrounding the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.

Pictures circulating online show President Kiir and Dr. Machar smiling and hugging each other in their first meeting after nearly two years since the renewed fighting in 2016.

“Peace is coming to our region [amen]. These two brothers are linking themselves to bring peace to South Sudan,” Dr Ahmed said in a short video posted by an SSBC reporter in Addis Ababa.

The meeting was expected to address issues of governance and security arrangement.

This week, the parties at the interlink consultation on the high level revitalization forum forwarded the composition of the next government and responsibility sharing to the two leaders to decide on.

Upon arrival on Wednesday, Dr. Machar met with leaders from the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, while President Kiir met his delegation.

The meeting at the Presidential Palace in Addis Ababa excluded delegates from all the parties, except the three leaders.