President Kiir Withdraws Negotiating Team From Peace Talks
3 November 2014
November 2, 2014 (JUBA) - South Sudan's president, Salva Kiir, has recalled
the government delegation currently taking part in negotiations in Ethiopia
with the country's armed opposition group under the leadership of former
vice-president Riek Machar, accusing the latter of seeking a military
solution to the more than 10-month-long conflict.
The move comes after the president told governors on Friday that he would
recall his negotiating team in protest over the recent military engagement
in Unity state capital Bentiu.
The town has repeatedly changed hands between the country's rival forces
since the conflict erupted in mid-December 2013 after a political rift
within the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) turned
violent.
Peace talks between government and rebel forces, which are being mediated by
the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), have so far failed to
yield a lasting political settlement to the crisis.
"The president, with permission from the chief mediator, decided to recall
our negotiating team because, first of all, the rebel delegation, instead of
participating in the talks in good faith, decided to participate in the
organisation of military attacks," presidential spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny
told Sudan Tribune in an exclusive interview on Sunday.
Ateny claimed that Taban Deng Gai, the leader of the rebel negotiating team,
travelled to Heglig, the contested border area with Sudan, to organise and a
military offensive against government troops in Unity state.
"He (Gai) was in Heglig when [the] attack was launched on Bentiu. He only
left Heglig after he was frustrated with [the] defeat of their forces in
their bid to take Bentiu, so that it enhances their position at the talks,"
he said.
"The second reason is that some of the negotiating team members are cabinet
ministers, so the president felt it would not be wise leaving them to stay
around without negotiation while there are some works they can do back in
the country," he added.
His comments echo similar claims by the South Sudan's army (SPLA)
spokesperson, Colonel Philip Aguer.
In quotes published by various media agencies on Friday, Aguer alleged that
Gai had travelled to the contested border town of Heglig, which remains
under the control of the Sudanese army (SAF), to drum up support and boost
the morale of rebel fighters in the region to launch an attack purportedly
aimed at taking control of Bentiu town.
"Taban Deng Gai was in Panthou (Heglig) when rebels of Riek Machar launched
an attack on Bentiu. He only left Panthou (Heglig) on 30 October. This is an
indication the rebels of Riek Machar have not abandoned the option of [a]
military solution," Aguer told reporters on Friday.
However, Abdullah Kuot, a spokesperson for armed opposition forces in the
Bahr el Ghazal region under the overall command of General Dau Aturjong,
denied Gai was involved in military activities, saying the rebel delegation
had not left the negotiating table since peace talks resumed last week.
"The decision of the government delegation to return to Juba on the order of
Salva Kiir indicates that they are committed to rhetoric of peaceful
settlement of the conflict they instigated," said Kuot.
"Our delegation has never left the venue of peace talks. Indeed their
strength has been reinforced by the presence of our chairman, comrade Dr
Riek Machar in Ethiopia," he added.
The leading opposition figure claimed the rebel leadership had asked their
leader to come to Ethiopia where IGAD-led talks are being held.
"The leadership felt it would be wise for him to be there personally, so
that he would be able to provide guidance to the negotiating team so that
they can easily navigates the way out of difficulties, mostly on issues
which the government delegation shows intransigence," Kuot explained in a
separate interview on Sunday.
Renewed clashes erupted in Unity state last week between government and
rebel forces, with both sides claiming to have the upper hand.
Both the US and United Nations have strongly condemned the latest rebel
attacks in the oil-rich region, describing it as a violation of the
cessation of hostilities agreement signed by the two rival factions in
January.
South Sudan has been locked in an ongoing cycle of violence since
mid-December outbreak of violence last year.
The conflict was initially contained in the capital, Juba, before rapidly
spreading to other parts of the country, fuelling simmering tribal tensions.