Ethiopia says regional ministers have approved a six-month extension of the looming deadline for South Sudan’s rival leaders to form a unity government.
Ethiopia’s government announced the approval on Wednesday after a meeting of the council of East African ministers.
South Sudan had faced a May 12 deadline for opposition leader Riek Machar to return to the country and once again become President Salva Kiir’s deputy.
It is the crucial next step in a fragile peace deal to end a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people.
Both South Sudan’s government and Machar’s opposition requested the six-month extension last week.
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The committee overseeing the peace deal’s implementation says key elements have yet to be put in place.
