JUBA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Friday that negotiations with the various opposition factions are progressing well and it hopes that a deal would be reached soon as peace talks continue in Khartoum, Sudan.
Martin Elia Lomuro, acting South Sudan foreign minister, told reporters that the warring factions have made "advanced" progress on a draft deal on security arrangements and it would likely be signed in a few days.
"Generally speaking, we have assured the cabinet that there was progress being made and we are very happy with the way Khartoum has taken the approach," Lomuro told journalists in Juba after the weekly cabinet meeting.
Last week, President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in Khartoum and pledged to end more than four years of fighting.
But the pact was broken just hours after it took effect and the parties have been trading blames on one another.
Sudan is continuing with mediation efforts spearheaded by the East African regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in a bid to find political solution to the South Sudan conflict.
The Sudanese mediation team on Wednesday availed a revised version of the power sharing formula, which the warring parties had rejected in May.
South Sudan descended into a civil war in late 2013, and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world. The UN estimates that about 4 million South Sudanese have been displaced internally and externally.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under United Nations pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government, but was shattered by renewed fighting in July 2016.
