First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar - courtesy

Opposition Leader Dr. Riek Machar will no longer travel to Juba this week as earlier expected, SPLM-IO deputy spokesperson has told Eye Radio.

Dr. Machar was to arrive in Juba on Tuesday to continue discussing with President Salva Kiir on some of the pending issues in the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“They [Machar and Kiir] have been invite to go to Addis Ababa to meet on the sidelines during African Union summit,” Manawa Peter said.

The AU Heads of State Summit has been scheduled to take place in the Ethiopian capital on Saturday, 8 February.

Dr. Machar returned to Khartoum late last month, without reaching an agreement with President Salva Kiir on pending issues of the peace deal.

He had spent two weeks in Juba, holding meetings with President Kiir and other stakeholders in an attempt to break the deadlock on the contentious issues.

The peace parties have failed, twice, to form the unity government – first in May 2019 and then in November 2019.

They now have 17 days to the 22 February deadline for forming the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity.

Manawa stressed that the principals are likely to discuss the issue of the number and boundaries of the states and the security arrangements.

Meanwhile, the parties to the revitalized peace agreement and IGAD special envoys resumed meetings in Juba on Tuesday, to address the pending issues of the state and their boundaries.