Interview: Randy Short talks S Sudan warring parties holding directpeace talks on Press TV

The government of South Sudan and rebels are holding more advanced peace talks in Ethiopia after a preliminary meeting late Saturday.

Representatives of President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have begun direct talks in Addis Ababa in a bid to end three weeks of bloody conflict. Their meeting comes despite renewed fighting in several parts of South Sudan. The army says fresh clashes have erupted in the oil-producing Unity and Upper Nile states in the north. Violence broke out in South Sudan in mid-December after the government accused Machar and his forces of attempting to stage a coup. The conflict has left thousands dead in the world's youngest country.