President Omar Al-Bashir held talks yesterday in Juba with South Sudan President, Salva Kiir.

As part of efforts to find a solution to the ongoing fighting in South Sudan that was prompted by the December 15, 2013 failed coup, President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan yesterday, January 6, 2014, met President Salva Kiir Mayardit in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.  The BBC cited State media in Sudan as saying that President Bashir travelled to the South Sudanese capital with a team of ministers to give their support to a regional initiative to solve the crisis. East Africa's Intergovernmental Authority on Development, IGAD, is trying to mediate between the South Sudanese government and its opponents led by former Vice President Dr Riek Machar. Sudan relies on revenue from oil transported through its southern neighbours' pipelines, which Khartoum fears will be disrupted by the fighting.

The Sudanese President’s visit came as fighters loyal to President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar clashed in parts of Juba and in the oil-rich northern Unity and Upper Nile States on Sunday, December 5, 2014. Meanwhile, peace talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, again failed to get off on Sunday. Negotiators from the two sides met briefly, but announced no clear date or schedule for the start of substantive peace talks, Deutsche Welle Radio reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Malual Ayom, the Deputy Chief of General Staff for Administration and some other senior officers were killed in an ambush on Friday, January 3, 2014 by forces loyal to Riek Machar as the army attempted to recapture the rebel-held Jonglei State capital, Bor.