DHAKA: Face-to-face talks between warring parties in South Sudan have been delayed, government and rebel delegations said on Saturday, dashing hopes of a swift ceasefire to end raging battles and risks of all-out civil war.

South Sudan information minister Michael Makuei, part of the delegation to the talks in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, as well as rebel team spokesman Yohanis Musa Pouk, said the two sides would not meet on Saturday until an agenda had been drafted by negotiators and agreed by both sides.

It was not clear when they would be completed, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1630 HRS, JAN 04, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor