South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar has returned to the country for the first time in more than two years - as part of a peace deal.

    His spokesman told the (BBC) Machar was now at rebel military headquarters in the eastern town of Pagak. He is expected in the capital Juba next week to resume the post of vice-president as part of last year's deal. 

    The deadly civil conflict erupted in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup. Since then thousands of people have died and more than two million have been displaced. 

    Machar's spokesman told the BBC on Tuesday that the rebel leader was in Pagak, near the border with Ethiopia. Last week, more than 1,300 rebel troops were flown to Juba as part of the terms of the peace deal signed in August 2015. 

    These forces are deployed to provide security for Machar, who said he would not come to take up his new position until these security measures were put into place.

Source: QNA