African leaders gather for peace deal signing

Regional African leaders gathered in South Sudan's capital where President Salva Kiir was expected to sign a peace deal on Wednesday to end a 20-month conflict, after his decision last week to delay inking the pact.

Kiir, who has led South Sudan since it seceded from Sudan in 2011, had asked for more time for consultations last week in the Ethiopian capital, drawing threats of U.N. sanctions if he failed to sign it within a two-week deadline.

South Sudanese Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the signing was expected to take place during the visit by African leaders to Juba but that Kiir would also list reservations about a deal that will see him sharing power with his long-time rival, rebel leader Riek Machar.

It follows months of on-off negotiations, hosted by Ethiopia, and several broken ceasefire deals.

Rebels said they had captured a town south of Juba on Wednesday and said there had been other fighting with government forces elsewhere. There was no immediate government comment.

The conflict erupted in December 2013 after a power struggle between Machar, an ethnic Nuer, and Kiir, from the dominant Dinka group. The fighting has increasingly run along ethnic lines.

Machar, who has already signed the peace agreement, was Kiir's deputy until he was sacked in 2013. Under the deal, Machar is expected to become first vice president.

Mediators said Kiir previously voiced concerns about conditions that he consult the first vice president on policy. Machar has also voiced concerns about aspects of power sharing.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn arrived in Juba earlier on Wednesday for the regional summit.

The conflict has killed thousands of people and driven more than 2 million from their homes. Fighting has halted development in the desperately poor nation of about 11 million people that has barely any tarmac roads and where many go hungry.