IGAD has called on the government to allow all invited representatives to travel to Addis Ababa for the fourth round of peace talks which started on Thursday.

On Wednesday, a 7-member delegation of the National Alliance, a coalition of opposition parties, was prevented from leaving Juba for the talks.

SPLM-DC leader Dr Lam Akol, who was leading the team, said “they told us that it is not allowed for the political parties alliances to travel to the talks”.

In a statement, IGAD said members of IGAD-Plus express their ‘collective commitment to the inclusivity of the South Sudan peace process’.

“In this regard, we express our concern that invited representatives of South Sudanese political parties have reportedly been prevented from traveling to Addis Ababa to participate in the IGAD PLUS peace process, which resumed yesterday,” partly read the statement.

“We call on the Government of South Sudan to immediately allow these and all invited representatives to travel and participate fully. We appreciate their cooperation in this regard.”

IGAD-Plus comprises of representatives from the United States and its partners in the troika for South Sudan, Norway and the United Kingdom; the United Nations, China, five African states, the African Union, and the European Union.