NAIROBI: South Sudan rebel chief George Athor vowed Sunday to continue battling the government in Juba and demanded new elections to end his bloody war.

"People must die so we can have peace and can have democracy," Athor told reporters in the Kenyan capital, his first public appearance since launching his bloody rebellion in April 2010 after alleging fraud in elections.

Athor, a former general who began his rebellion after losing the gubernatorial race in Jonglei state, said he met with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir last week in Nairobi, but his demands had been rejected.

"There is a grave need for peace in South Sudan but unfortunately the other side were not cooperating," the militia leader said, who called for both fresh nation-wide elections and "two or three ministerial posts."

"President Kiir was positive but that was not the same for the rest of the delegation," he added.

South Sudan accuses Athor of acting on behalf of former civil war enemies in Khartoum in a bid to destabilise the country, which won independence in July.

Athor, who denied he was supported by Khartoum, demanded a third party to guarantee the implementation of any agreement, as well as "reparations for the losses people have suffered."

He did not give details of the financial package he demanded, but also said that schools and hospitals should be built in the areas badly hit by the conflict.

"This is not an ethnic or a tribal fight, but about changing the whole system," Athor said, adding he was returning to South Sudan soon and boasting that other separate southern militia forces followed his command.

But Athor, whose forces are largely holed up in malaria-infested swamplands, stressed that he did want a peaceful solution to his rebellion.

"We are ready for talks as soon as they (the government) are," he said. "We can reach an agreement because ultimately we don't think that this can be resolved militarily."

Athor's representatives signed a ceasefire in January with Juba -- just days before the south voted overwhelming in a referendum to secede from the north after decades of civil war -- but fighting broke out weeks later.