It follows two days of talks in the Sudanese capital between Juba’s President Salva Kiir and leader leader Riek Machar.

After three failed peace bids, caution is the watchword in reporting on  efforts to end South Sudan’s five year civil war.

Journalists in Khartoum say they’ve actually seen a framework agreement to be inked today.

It commits both sides to a permanent ceasefire and allows the regional grouping IGAD and the African Union to deploy troops to monitor this.

It allows the host country, Sudan to secure the oilfields in its southern  neighbour and reinstate the oil wells.

It establishes Wau and Malakal as capitals of South Sudan along with Juba. 

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Their arrival in the next few weeks  in the next weeks will be one Britain’s largest operational deployments worldwide.

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The Whitehall statement says the first of the British troops, proudly wearing their distinctive blue UN berets, arrives in Juba today to join the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

The British contingent is the first to join the 13 000-member UNMISS force since it was set up in 2011.

It is made up of medics and military engineers. The engineers will be deployed at UN camps housing displaced civilians in Bentiu and Malakal in the north, where they will help improve routes, security and drainage

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