Lt. Gen.Thomas Cirillo, leader of the rebel faction National Salvation Front (NAS), responded to the call by President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar to join peace.

"We are open to dialogue, we are open to negotiation; we are open to engage in talks with Juba or whoever wants to help South Sudan to achieve a sustainable peace," Cirillo said in his response.

"We will wait for them if they are serious so that we sit down and discuss the root causes of the conflict. We welcome their statement that they want to talk to the holdout groups," he added.

Last week, President Salva Kiir and the leader of the SPLM-IO, Riek Machar issued a call to the holdout opposition groups to join the revitalized peace agreement.

Cirillo, who is part of a new coalition calling itself South Sudan Opposition Movements (SSOM), said they are ready to participate in pursuing "genuine and dignified peace."

The alliance is made up of South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA), the Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (R- SPLM) and the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A).

"We are going to develop a common position,” said Thomas Cirillo, who also leads the rebel coalition South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA). “We are not going to negotiate peace with Juba as individual organizations, so all of us will be together in any negotiation."

Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo was speaking during a Facebook Live broadcast hosted by Our Diversity page on Sunday.