TheCable

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan was on Thursday flown to a hospital in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, in the middle of a summit to end the country’s 13-month civil conflict.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly 2 million people displaced because of the disagreement between Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.

Machar was South Sudan’s deputy president until he was fired by Kiir in 2013.

The president later accused him of plotting a coup, an allegation that Machar denied before raising a rebel force to fight government troops.

On Wednesday, the peace meeting between both leaders was interrupted because Kiir had to be treated for nose bleeding.

The president’s aides denied earlier reports that he was taken to the hospital on Wednesday.

The two sides agreed in previous talks to form a unity government, but remain deadlocked over the powers of a new prime minister.

Kiir has led South Sudan, the world’s newest state, since its independence from Sudan in 2011.