Rebel leader Machar returns to S. Sudan capital to mark peace deal

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar returned to the capital Juba on Wednesday to seal a peace deal more than two years after he fled the country following the collapse of an earlier accord. Machar, the former vice president, got off a plane and walked to a car with his wife Angelina, Reuters reports. Soon after other aircraft arrived, carrying the presidents of Sudan and Ethiopia – states that helped broker the agreement earlier this year. Machar’s office said he would attend peace celebrations hosted by his longtime rival, President Salva Kiir. The world’s youngest nation plunged into civil war in late 2013 when troops loyal to Kiir clashed with forces loyal to Machar in the city. Ethnically-charged fighting soon spread across the impoverished state. Machar fled to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016. He later traveled to South Africa, where he was held under house arrest until earlier this year. Machar’s group, other rebel factions and the government last month signed a peace deal, under which he will again become vice president.