South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar’s chief of general staff has arrived in the capital Juba ahead of a possible return of Machar to take up the role of vice-president.
Local media report that the SPLA-IO army chief Simon Gatwech and around 100 troops landed in Juba today, fueling hope that Machar may at last be arriving too.
The rebel leader had previously said that he would not return to the capital before Gatwech was allowed to get into Juba.
Machar was previously scheduled to arrive in Juba on April 18, but failed to show up, saying some of his demands were not met.
South Sudan descended into conflict in 2013 December when President Salva Kiir accused his then deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup against his government.
Machar refuted the allegations but went ahead to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
The two year conflict has killed thousands and displaced over two million people.
The government and rebels signed a UN-backed peace deal in a move to bring peace back into the world’s youngest nation.
Though other peace agreements were not respected, there is hope that the current agreement will be respected and a transitional unity government will be formed, with Machar taking up the position of vice-president under Riek Machar.
