As the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) warned of possible sanctions against the protagonists in the South Sudan conflict, former vice president turned rebel leader Riek Machar dismissed as untrue, accusations levelled against him by a top US diplomat and East African leaders, of continuing a war that has claimed thousands of lives and may soon cause a famine.

Instead, Dr Machar demanded that former detainees, civil society and other political parties be excluded from ongoing talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to allow for direct negotiations between him and President Salva Kiir’s government.

“Peace talks mean solving differences between warring parties. I accept the Igad mandate and their obligation to bring peace to RSS. But talks must deal with the warring parties first, so as to resolve the cause of the crisis to address an inclusive way forward,” Dr Machar said in a tweet last Wednesday night.

Dr Machar’s team snubbed the peace talks in Addis Ababa last Tuesday to protest the inclusion of other groups, a move that could jeopardise regional and international efforts aimed at finding a political and home grown solution to the turmoil in South Sudan.

The failure by Dr Machar’s team to show up when the fifth round of peace talks got underway in Addis Ababa on Monday, prompted Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who is the Igad chairperson, to warn of unspecified “punitive action that has to be taken immediately after convening the meeting of Igad Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa very soon after this summit.”

The notion of targeted sanctions against those who obstruct the peace process and commit serious human-rights violations in South Sudan has been discussed at length in the UN Security Council meetings. And as the Council met on Thursday last week, it was expected that some members would reiterate sanctions as a viable option for the Council’s upcoming consultations.

However, sources say that it appears that some Council members would prefer to have Igad impose the sanctions first before the Council follows suit.

“The difficulty is that it seems that there are some divisions within Igad on this issue, perhaps given that some of its member states have strong political and economic ties to South Sudan,” said a source.

During a meeting with Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and leaders of three other Igad member states on the sidelines of the US-Africa Summit, US Secretary of State John Kerry declared: “It is our judgement — and the former vice president Mr Machar needs to understand this — that it was his initiative that broke the agreement and took his troops back into a violent status.”

READ: US to hold mini-summit on S. Sudan alongside Africa meet in Washington

Mr Desalegn echoed Mr Kerry’s accusation, saying Machar was responsible for the violation of the ceasefire.

But Dr Machar’s camp dismissed the claims as unfounded: “We see this as a biased stance by Mr Kerry. The US Secretary of State did not condemn the onset of massacres of Nuer civilians in Juba in mid-December by President Kiir’s guards, but rushed to condemn our forces for the subsequent killings in other areas,” said Dr Machar’s Spokesperson James Gatdet Dak.

According to the Machar group, the US is misinformed and the region has turned a blind eye to violations of the ceasefire by Kiir’s government.

“He did not condemn the government for violation of the January 23 Cessation of Hostilities. He did not condemn the government even when the army chief of staff Gen Paul Malong Awan last month arrogantly admitted that his troops deliberately violated the agreement in order to gain more territories before the May 9 agreement between our chairman, Dr Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir. Kerry is, therefore, misinformed,” the spokesman added.

Dr Machar insists that direct talks between the government and the rebels will expedite the peace process while the other stakeholders participate in a consultative manner.

“Actually, the government delegation has accepted our proposal. Our delegation and their delegation are now engaged in direct talks on security and humanitarian issues as we speak without participation of the other stakeholders. The government delegation made it clear on Wednesday that they want direct talks with us,” Mr Gatdet told The EastAfrican.

President Kiir, who attended last week’s US-Africa Summit, said that the war in his country “could have been resolved a long time back, but we get difficulty on the side of the rebels.”

President Kiir blamed Dr Machar’s forces for violating ceasefire agreements signed in May and June.

Mr Kerry was warm in welcoming President Kiir to Washington and offered no criticisms of the South Sudan government in his remarks on Tuesday.

The US is on record since the start of the fighting last December saying that it regards President Kiir as the legitimate leader of South Sudan and would oppose his overthrow.

READ: US issues South Sudan warning as Machar loses diplomatic war

As the two principals in the eight months-old war continue to trade accusations, regional leaders are due to meet in Addis Ababa in a fortnight to decide on what punitive measures should be taken against them.

The Igad State summit will deliberate on the progress made so far and is also expected to get a report from the two rivals on the modalities of the proposed Transitional government of National Unity.

READ: South Sudan rebels say unity govt not the solution

By Barbara Among and Kevin J. Kelley