KHARTOUM, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's major opposition group on Thursday signed with initial letters on a final peace deal in Sudan's capital Khartoum after declining to do so on Tuesday, Sudan Tribune reported.
Manawa Peter, spokesman of Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), said "the movement signed on bases of promises by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to refer all issues of difference to the summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Khartoum next September."
He said his group would wait to see the outcome of the IGAD summit, noting that the signing ceremony which took place in Khartoum Thursday came after a series of meetings with mediation.
The SPLM-IO declined to sign on the final peace deal Tuesday due to its disagreement with a decision-making mechanism in the executive and legislative body, and rejection to establishing a commission to revise the Constitution.
Since Aug. 13, Sudan has been hosting the third round of the South Sudan peace talks, aiming to reach a comprehensive peace agreement to complete two previous deals the parties signed earlier in Khartoum.
On June 27, the South Sudanese rivals signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement on South Sudan, followed by the signing of another deal on security arrangements and power-sharing on Aug. 5.
Earlier, the South Sudanese opposition alliance demanded revision of the administrative division of South Sudan and reconsideration of the number of the 32 states.
In October 2015, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir issued a decree to dissolve the Council of the States, which operated under the administrative division of 10 states, while establishing 28 states.
In January 2017, Kiir issued a separate decree establishing an additional four states, bringing to 32 the total number of states in South Sudan.
