Talks between embattled South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and former vice president Dr Riek Machar that are set to resume on February 10, could run into a brick wall as both sides take tough stances likely to prolong resolution of the two-month old conflict.

The fighting has so far claimed lives of thousands of people and displaced an estimated 900,000 others, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  

Government officials in Juba, which managed to hold off Dr Machar’s forces thanks to military backing from Uganda, appear to be reading from different scripts with respect to their priorities when they return to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, which is hosting the talks.

Buoyed by their superior position, some see the Igad-led mediation process as a distraction from outright military victory following Dr Machar’s retreat from all major towns in north east of the country.

“We respect Igad who called us to the negotiating table. If it was left to us, we wouldn’t have negotiated with him [Dr Machar] because we have to crush him,” Ateny Wek Ateny, President Kiir’s spokesperson, told reporters in Kampala on Thursday, February 6.

“Riek Machar has now launched his movement that he has called the South Sudan Resistance Movement. He is no longer looking for democracy because when he was holding onto the SPLM, by calling his group SPLM in Opposition, he did not need to be armed,” Mr Ateny added.

On February 3, Dr Machar told the Voice of America from an undisclosed location that he had formed a resistance group against President Kiir’s administration, to fight for democracy, pluralism, free elections and good governance in South Sudan.

“Riek Machar has to tell them [the mediators] whether we are going to negotiate with him as South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/South Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition or as the South Sudan Resistance Movement,” Mr Ateny said.

“Legally, we signed the cessation of hostilities with a movement called South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/South Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition.”

The spokesperson’s position seemed at odds with that of James Wani Igga, Dr Machar’s successor and deputy chairperson of the ruling party. Mr Igga told reporters in Juba on February 5 that his government is not going to set preconditions when the talks resume.

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“They will tell us what they want. They are the aggrieved party and we shall first listen to them and we shall respond,” Mr Igga is quoted to have said.

From the onset of the conflict, Dr Machar has reportedly demanded the resignation of President Kiir, which according to multiple reports, he says must precede the progression of talks.

“President Kiir will not be overthrown by any military means because he was elected by 93.7 per cent of the people of South Sudan,” Ateny said.

“President Kiir has said elections have to be conducted as planned in April 2015. Anybody who wants to contest democratically will be allowed to come, except those who have taken arms against the Republic of South Sudan,” he added.

Dr Machar had also demanded the release of 11 people who were detained in the wake of what Juba insists was an attempted coup.  Although Kiir’s government released seven of the 11, it is unlikely to yield over the remaining four — Pagan Amum, Oyay Deng Ajak, Majak D’Agotk and Ezekiel Lol Gatkouth.

Parties to the mediation will also have to deal with the presence of Uganda’s military in the conflict. Their withdrawal is another one of Dr Machar’s demands.

Up to now, Igad, like Western countries, has not publicly supported or condemned Uganda’s entry into the fray.

Sam Kutesa, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, said whereas Igad member states agreed to work out a “disengagement mechanism” that would see other forces come into South Sudan, it did not mean  Uganda had been asked to withdraw.