JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar says he could return to the country as early as next month, even if he has to enter the way he fled — on foot.

In an interview with The Associated Press in South Africa, Machar said a political process is needed to revive a peace deal that has collapsed.

But he did not commit to rejoining the deal on the same terms. In the agreement, he had been vice president in a fragile national unity government under his rival, President Salva Kiir.

Machar says he has the right to be president, and that his forces can "liberate" the capital.

He fled South Sudan in July when fighting erupted among security forces. On Thursday, he described a 500-mile march through the bush into Congo.