South Sudan's President Salva Kiir speaks during a news conference in Juba, April 25, 2014. REUTERS/Emre Rende
JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said on Friday he was ready for face-to-face talks with rebel leader Riek Machar to try and end months of fighting in the world's newest nation, but his rival held off from promising to take part.
Kiir spoke hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met him in South Sudan's capital Juba to urge him to help end the conflict – part of a diplomatic push by Western and African powers who fear it could tip into full-blown ethnic slaughter and destabilise an already fragile region.
