South Sudan leaders show little appetite for peace deal- U.N.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit arrives for the official U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, August 5, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - South Sudan President Salva Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar show little interest in making a deal to end months of fighting that has brought the nation to the brink of "man-made" famine, U.N. Security Council envoys said during a visit to East Africa.

Clashes in December between soldiers loyal to Kiir and supporters of his former deputy Machar plunged the oil-producing country back into conflict, less than three years after its hard-won independence from former civil war foe Sudan.