South Sudanese leader Riek Machar in talks President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum on Sunday.
AFP
South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar held talks with Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on Sunday as a deadline passed to end months of civil war in the South.
Machar is on his first visit to Khartoum since December when his forces and those loyal to President Salva Kiir began the war which three ceasefires have failed to end.
There has been growing international condemnation of the fighting which has killed thousands of people and uprooted more than 1.5mn.
During the 1983-2005 Sudanese civil war which led to South Sudan's independence three years ago, Machar fought at varying times for both pro-independence rebels and for Sudan's government in Khartoum.
"We have a long history together," Machar said after briefing Bashir about peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, led by the East African regional block IGAD.
"There are some problems in the negotiations," he told reporters, citing disagreements over whether talks should occur directly with the government or involve broader representation.
"We want to solve the issues that led to the conflict and after that we want to have a transitional government, during which we can write a transitional constitution," Machar said.
"President Bashir can help with this because he has experience when he was president of greater Sudan."
An IGAD deadline for rebel and government forces to agree on a power-sharing deal and implement a ceasefire expired on Sunday.
Machar said his visit to Khartoum follows trips to other IGAD member nations, Djibouti and Kenya. In May, he held talks in Nairobi with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Neither Bashir, nor any other Sudanese official, joined Machar to brief reporters after the talks.
But the official SUNA news agency said Bashir, who met Machar at the presidential guesthouse, called for an end to the war "and commitment to dialogue" for solving the crisis.
On Saturday, Ethiopia's foreign ministry, which is hosting and helping to mediate the negotiations, announced the launch of peace talks once again.
Despite the South's separation, Khartoum and Juba have common interests, most notably oil, Kau Nak, charge d'affaires at the South's embassy in Khartoum, said ahead of Machar's visit.
He said that if Machar were visiting "for good of South Sudan or good of (the) two countries then that would be all right".
South Sudan pays fees to Khartoum for the export of southern oil through Sudanese pipelines, although output is down since fighting began.
