The government says it will not participate in any further peace talks unless fighting ceases.

As efforts continue to put pressure on the warring sides in the South Sudan conflict to quickly form a unity government, the government on August 19, 2014, announced that it would not take part in negotiations with rebels led by former Vice President, Riek Machar, unless both parties agree on a meaningful cessation of hostilities.

The Sudan Tribune newspaper quoted Information Minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, as disclosing that the government delegation to the talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, submitted a letter to the mediators demanding a clear time table on implementing last May’s ceasefire deal. The leader of the government delegation, Nhial Deng Nhial and Lueth held a meeting with the mediators on August 18, 2014, during which they set conditions for participating in the on-and-off negotiations.

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, IGAD, earlier this week condemned the latest wave of fighting that broke out in South Sudan’s Bentiu region on August 15, 2014. The clashes ensued barely 48 hours after a UN Security Council team left the country following an assessment mission, and hardly a week to the next IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government summit.

IGAD special envoys for South Sudan, who are mediating peace talks to end the country’s eight-month conflict, vowed to probe the latest clashes and expose the masterminds of the violence. Mediators described the latest fighting as a violation of the ceasefire agreement signed on May 10, 2014, by South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir and Riek Machar. The fighting, which erupted last December, has claimed over 1,500 lives and displaced thousands, leading to a humanitarian crisis.