South Sudan president rejects calls to quit

JUBA: South Sudan President Salva Kiir has rejected opposition calls for him to resign as part of efforts to end a civil war, accusing anti-government groups of making “unreasonable demands” in peace talks. Despite several agreements and ceasefires, fighting has rumbled on in South Sudan with barely any break since it first erupted in 2013, just two years after independence, killing tens of thousands. In talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa led by East African bloc IGAD, 10 opposition groups last month demanded Kiir step aside. They also want a transitional parliament dissolved and replaced by a new one formed with less than 200 members. “The people who are fighting with us have unreasonable conditions to make peace,” Kiir said during a ceremony for his deceased army chief, General James Ajongo Mawut late on Tuesday. — Reuters