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South Sudan Rebel Leader Says he Will Take up VP position


FILE - South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar, left, speaks to the media about the situation in South Sudan following last week's peace agreement with the government, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 31, 2015.
FILE - South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar, left, speaks to the media about the situation in South Sudan following last week's peace agreement with the government, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aug. 31, 2015.

South Sudan's rebel leader says he has accepted his appointment by President Salva Kiir as vice president and will return to the country to take up the position when adequate security arrangements are made.

Riek Machar on Saturday called for the demilitarization of the capital, Juba, adding that government and rebel forces should be integrated before his return.

Implementation of the peace agreement signed in August has stalled because Kiir ordered the creation of 28 states from the existing 10, undermining a power-sharing provision in the accord that gave Machar's side control of two of the original states.

Machar had been Kiir's deputy until July 2013 when he was fired, triggering violence between South Sudan's ethnic groups and a rebellion.

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