South Sudan's government said on Friday it was ready for dialogue with rivals to prevent a return to war as African ministers sought to broker peace in the two-year-old nation, where hundreds have been killed in fighting this week.
The United Nations said on Thursday a crowd of Nuer tribesmen breached a U.N. compound in Jonglei State north of the capital and it had reports some people were killed.
Fighting that began on Sunday in the capital has swiftly spread, fuelled by ethnic divisions.
Kiir has said he is ready for dialogue. Machar told French radio that he was ready to "negotiate his departure from power" and said the army could force Kiir out if he did not quit.
"President Kiir has always said that he doesn't want his people to turn back again to war," Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told Reuters. "That is why the government has been negotiating with a lot of militia groups."
Source: Reuters
