South Sudan’s Kiir Agrees to Meet Rival at Kerry Request

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir agreed to hold talks with rebel leader Riek Machar, as the United Nations Security Council is seeking to end a four-month conflict mired in ethnic violence.

Kiir, who met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the president’s office in Juba yesterday, said he’s committed to “take forceful steps in order to move to end the violence and implement the cessation-of-hostilities agreement and to begin to engage on a discussion with respect to a transition government,” Kerry told reporters after the 90-minute meeting.