JUBA, South Sudan (AP) – South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar returned to the capital Juba Tuesday afternoon, to become vice president and to try to end the civil war that in two and a half years has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 2 million from their homes.
After landing Juba International Airport, where doves were released and a welcoming crowd ululated, Machar briefly addressed the press before driving to the presidential palace to be sworn in as First Vice President to President Salva Kiir, according to a peace deal signed eight months ago under intense international pressure. Machar flew from Gambella, Ethiopia, just across the border from his rebel headquarters in South Sudan.
“I’m happy to be back,” Machar told reporters at the airport. “The war was vicious. We have lost a lot of people in it and we need to bring our people together so that they can unite, reconcile, heal the wounds, the mental wounds that they have. … There will be challenges ahead, there will be obstacles but as long as there is political will we can overcome all these challenges, all these obstacles.”
After the swearing in ceremony, Kiir said, “Peace is the only choice for us to relieve our people the undeserved suffering associated with armed conflict enforced upon them. I believe this is the only way to return South Sudan to the path of peace stabliity and prosperity.”
The August peace deal calls for a two-year transitional government of ministers and parliamentarians from the two sides before new elections.