[JURIST] The president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir [BBC profile], on Monday withheld from signing a peace agreement between the government and rebel forces meant to end the country’s ongoing civil war. The South Sudanese conflict has been ongoing between the two parties since 2013, and has resulted in tens of thousands of lives lost and more than two million displaced. Rebel leader Riek Machar [Al Jazeera profile] complied with the August 17th deadline set by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) [official website] but President Kiir requested an extra 15 days to consult with his political and military officials. President Kiir stands to incur sanctions for his failure to meet the deadline. However, in a message sent out through the government’s Twitter [materials] profile, the president expressed his motivating concerns in refusing to sign : “If it is signed today and then tomorrow we go back to war, then what have we achieved?”. However, a statement [Sudan Tribune report] made to the Sudan Tribune by Machar’s spokesperson implies the rebel faction’s desire to achieve peace :

… [Machar] has shown his true commitment to peace by signing the peace agreement to end the suffering of the people of South Sudan. The ball is now in the court of Salva Kiir to equally show his commitment to peace if he also cares about the lives of the suffering people,”

The agreement would eliminate the government’s complete control of seven states of the union, and would redistribute power in the remaining three states so that the rebel forces no longer hold a majority.

The South Sudanese Civil War [JURIST backgrounder; BBC report] has persisted since December 2013 when President Salva Kiir Mayardit accused his ex-vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting to overthrow him. In July,The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs on Saturday urged [JURIST report] those involved on all sides of the South Sudan conflict to end their fighting and make peace in the interest of protecting innocent civilians. In May, Amnesty International reported [JURIST report] that South Sudan government troops were committing human rights abuses, such as abusing civilians and lighting villages on fire amid ongoing fighting in the region. In March, South Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly [official website] voted to extend Kiir’s term by three years following the cancellation of elections that were to be held in June, and the dissolution of negotiations to end the country’s internal conflict. Earlier in March UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] urged [JURIST report] Kiir and Machar to end the hostilities and comply with international law to avoid sanctions. In late February UNICEF condemned [JURIST report] the abduction of young boys by an armed group in South Sudan. In early February Human Rights Watch reported that both parties in the conflict are recruiting children [JURIST report], with close to 600 child soldiers being used since the beginning of the conflict. Earlier in February the UN reported continued rights violations [JURIST report] just when the groups were on the brink of signing a peace deal. In January the UN reported attacks [JURIST report] on civilians based on ethnicity and political beliefs in Sudan that amounted to several war crimes.