Khartoum will on Sunday host a meeting for the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Partners Group to discuss implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) and the recent developments in Juba.
The meeting which will be co-chaired by Sudan and China, will bring together representatives from Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Chad, China, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, the African Union Commission, the European Union, the IGAD Partners Forum and the United Nations.
Sudan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Garib Allah Khidir, said that Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will co-chair the meeting with the Chinese Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Zhong Jianhua.
China, which has energy interests in South Sudan, has always been actively involved in the regional and international efforts to end the South Sudanese conflict.
The meeting will be briefed by the Chair of JMEC, former Botswana President Festus Mogae.
The first meeting of the JMEC partners group held in Nairobi in February 2016 had been co-chaired by Kenya and the United States, the second was held in Addis Ababa last May.
Since the clashes in Juba between the troops of President Salva Kiir and the former First Vice President Riek Machar and his replacement by Taban Deng Gai, observers agree that the peace process is on the verge of collapse.
Some diplomats express hope that Machar would return to Juba and be reappointed in his position. But it is not clear how such scenario can be achieved.
