The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the upcoming meeting of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development Council of Minters due next Tuesday will not discuss internal matters of the member states.

In a statement dated April 13, the Foreign Affairs Ministry stated that Juba will host IGAD extraordinary meeting on April 18th this month.

It says the meeting that will precede a regional high-level expert discussion will focus on peace and security as well as the natural disasters and humanitarian issues in the region.

The ministry’s Thursday statement comes after the SPML-IO  expressed hope the meeting would address the deadlock over the sacking of former defense minister, Angelina Teny, and the swapping of the party’s ministry with the SPLM’s interior ministry.

Previously, the SPLM-IO said it wrote to the IGAD to intervene in the deadlock, a step the party took after President Salva Kiir went on to replace Agelina with his deputy, Chol Thon Balok as the defense minister.

This is despite the two principles, Kiir and Machar agreeing to an amicable solution to the matter.