Updated

An official says that South Sudan's rebel leader has arrived in Ethiopia for talks with President Salva Kiir.

Tewolde Gebremeskel, a top official with the regional body sponsoring the talks, confirmed Thursday that Machar has arrived in the Ethiopian city of Gambella.

The Friday talks will be the first time the leaders of South Sudan's two warring sides have met since violence broke out in December, killing thousands of people.

The meeting between Kiir and his former vice president, Riek Machar, is expected to last one day.

More than 1.3 million people have fled their homes since the ethnically targeted violence began in December. Aid workers fear mass hunger unless the violence ends and people plant crops.