Salva Kiir In Dialogue Pledge After Warning Of 'Rwanda-Like Genocide' In South Sudan

Artists launched a peace campaign in South Sudan in September. AFP

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, has called for a national dialogue to end three years of civil war. 

Many South Sudanese are trying to find out if their relatives are dead or alive. AFP

BBC Africa Live report continues:

Addressing parliament, he said a panel of eminent people would guide the dialogue for all South Sudanese. 

There was no mention of his rival, former vice president Riek Machar, who fled the capital after the most recent attempt at reconciliation collapsed into bitter fighting. 

South Africa says Mr Machar is in its "care", denying reports that he is under house arrest.

Meanwhile media reports that the head of the UN Human Rights Council has said the international community can stop a "Rwanda-like" genocide in South Sudan if it immediately deploy a 4,000-strong protection force across the country and set up a court to prosecute those behind atrocities. 

Speaking at a special meeting of the council in Geneva, Yasmin Sooka said that South Sudan "stands on the brink of an all-out ethnic civil war, which could destabilize the entire region". 

South Sudan, the world's newest state, has been hit by conflict since December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup - a charge Mr Machar denied.