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                  Ceasefire Monitors to Deploy in South Sudan

   A bloc of East African countries is sending envoys to South Sudan to
   monitor a shaky cease-fire between rebels and government forces.
   The bloc known as IGAD has directed special envoys to set up a
   monitoring presence in South Sudan within 48 hours.
   Seyoum Mefin, the lead mediator in South Sudan peace talks, announced
   the decision Friday as IGAD ministers met on the sidelines of the
   African Union summit in Ethiopia.
   The monitors are the vanguard of a larger team that will monitor the
   cease-fire, brokered by IGAD last week.
   According to Reuters, a British envoy at Friday`s talks said the
   monitors will focus on four flashpoint towns that have been the scene
   of heavy fighting -- Bor, Bentui, Malakal and South Sudan`s capital,
   Juba.
   The plan was announced as the 54-member AU wrapped up a three-day
   summit that has focused largely on the conflicts in South Sudan and the
   Central African Republic.
   Representatives for South Sudan President Salva Kiir and
   anti-government forces agreed to the cease-fire on January 23. But
   since then, the fragile agreement has been tested as each side accused
   the other of violations.
   The cease-fire deal also calls for the progressive withdrawal or
   deployment of allied forces in South Sudan.
   The opposition has been demanding the withdrawal of Ugandan forces, who
   have been assisting South Sudan`s government.
   But South Sudan Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin defended the
   presence of the Ugandans, saying they were in the country before the
   current conflict to fight the roaming rebels in the Lord`s Resistance
   Army.
   South Sudan erupted in unrest last month after President Salva Kiir
   accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of attempting a coup --
   a charge Machar has denied.
   The ensuing violence is believed to have left thousands of people dead.
   More than a half million people have been displaced.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/ceasefire-monitors-to-deploy-in-south
   -sudan/1841664.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ceasefire-monitors-to-deploy-in-south-sudan/1841664.html