JUBA, Aug 20 (Xinhua)- - Sudan has offered to facilitate a face-to-face meeting between South Sudanese leader Salva Kiir and his arch rival Riek Machar in a bid to salvage the fragile 2018 peace deal, an official said Tuesday.
Deng Dua Deng, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs said head of Sudan's Transitional Military Council (TMC) Abdel Fattah al-Burhan agreed to help address the standoff surrounding the proposed meeting between the rival South Sudanese leaders.
Kiir and al-Burhan met in Khartoum on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of a power sharing deal between the TMC and protestors held on Aug 17.
Deng said the al-Burhan agreed to give protection to the rebel chief during the talks in South Sudan.
"It was good that president Salva met with Burhani and they discussed a common motion raised between the countries and also issues of peace in South Sudan," Deng told state-owned radio, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC).
"They also discussed the issues of Riek Machar and president Salva," he added.
The African Union (AU) last month asked Kiir and Machar to hold talks in a bid to expedite the implementation of the outstanding issues in the peace deal.
But the proposed meeting has so far failed to materialize over disagreements on the venue.
President Kiir said he was ready to meet his rival in the capital Juba, but Machar set some conditions for the meeting to take place.
Machar, who currently lives in Khartoum, requested to be allowed unhindered movement in the east African region before the talks could progress.
Under the 2018 peace deal, opposition leader Riek Machar with four others will once again be reinstated as Kiir's deputy.
Signatories to the fragile peace agreement on May 3 agreed to extend the formation of the transitional government by six months following delays in the implementation of the pact over unresolved issues.
Regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has summoned the parties to the deal for a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa on August 21 to find solutions to the stalemate.
