South Sudan President Kiir delays peace deal signing

Seyoum Mesfin, the mediator for the talks, said on Monday that Kiir's side required two more weeks before reaching an official agreement that was accepted by the South Sudanese rebels.

"In the next 15 days, the government will come back to Addis Ababa to finalize the peace agreement," Mesfin said.

The warring political rivals in South Sudan, Africa's youngest country, were locked in peace talks for hours on Monday in a bid to work out a deal to end 20 months of civil war.

It was the last day to reach a peace deal to avoid possible sanctions. Details about the failed deal and its repercussions were not immediately known.

Negotiations in Addis Ababa

President Kiir and rebel chief Machar had met alongside regional presidents in Ethiopia. A peace deal was being brokered under intense diplomatic pressure to sign an agreement before a Monday deadline was due to end. But numerous rounds of negotiations have failed to put an immediate end to the hostilities.

Representatives of Kiir and rebel leader Machar had been negotiating in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa since August 6. Haile Michael, spokesman for a regional bloc mediating the talks, had said that he expected them to sign a "compromise document" in the end.

Kiir, who had arrived in Ethiopia late Sunday, said he had been "compelled" to join the talks, but had warned it would be impossible to sign a lasting peace deal until all opposition factions could join the agreement. Kiir had initially said he would not attend talks, complaining it was not possible to strike an effective deal because rebel forces had split.

Key issues of disagreement included a power-sharing proposal between the government and the rebels. It was unclear whether rebel chief Riek Machar could return as vice president as part of a deal.

Humanitarian crisis

Tens of thousands of people have been killed during the civil war. The number of people sheltering inside UN peacekeeper bases rose by a third in just over a month to almost 200,000 civilians, according to the UN mission. More than 70 percent of the country's 12 million people are reported to be in need of aid.

South Sudan's civil war erupted in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy, Machar, of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that has split the poverty-stricken country along ethnic lines. South Sudan had only gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

Diplomats and international leaders, including US President Barack Obama, had warned that any failure to sign a peace deal could trigger "serious consequences" for the rival leaders, including an arms embargo as well as possible targeted sanctions.

ss/kms (AFP, AP)