IGAD mediators claim ‘progress’ on S. Sudan ceasefire talks
Il Governo e i ribelli del Sud Sudan, dopo le diverse settimane di violenza che hanno afflitto la nazione più giovane del mondo, hanno fatto pochi progressi diplomatici presso la sede dei colloqui bilaterali nella capitale etiope, Addis Abeba.
Negotiating teams of both sides earlier returned to face-to-face
negotiations on Thursday after talks to reach a ceasefire deal stalled
over the issue of freeing pro-rebel political figures who remain held in
connection with an alleged failed coup attempt in mid-December.
The
direct talks resumed Thursday after the Inter Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD) mediating team led by Ethiopian former foreign
Minister, Seyoum Mesfin, travelled to Juba where it held "fruitful
talks" with South Sudan President Salva Kiir and political detainees.
"There
is indeed major progress on the issue of cessation of hostilities",
said the regional mediators following the two-day visit on 7 and 8
January to Juba.
However, there is no sign of progress in Addis
Ababa beyond bringing together the two political actors, as sources
close to the talks have dismissed IGAD mediator’s claim of progress.
During
their meetings in Juba, the mediators presented a draft proposal on a
cessation of hostilities agreement; however Kiir reaffirmed his
government’s commitment to unconditional negotiations but refused to
release the political detainees that the rebels demand.
Nonetheless,
the mediators confirmed that the government and political detainees
have committed to unconditional negotiations to end the ongoing
hostilities that have claimed the lives over 1,000 people and forced
tens of thousands flee their home.
After visiting the political
prisoners, the detainees, according to IGAD mediators, said their status
as detainees should not be an obstacle for the two parties to seal a
ceasefire deal.
This has been welcomed by the regional bloc and seen as a key step forward to reaching an agreement on cessation of hostilities.
However an advisor to the rebel negotiating team in Addis Ababa told Sudan Tribune
that the political prisoners have taken neutral positions because they
don’t want to be considered as obstacles to the peace process and nor do
they want to back government demands.
Different sources said
president Kiir proposed to transfer the talks to the headquarters of the
UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Juba, in a way to allow the
political detainees to participate in the negotiations and return to the
prison where they are detained every night.
The rebel’s
negotiating team has not yet commented on whether it will continue to
insist on the release of political prisoners before entering into
negotiations. But the they rejected to move the talks to Juba
The
spokesperson for the US Department of State, Jen Psaki, On Wednesday
told reporters that the discussions in Addis Ababa have made some
progress on a draft agreement on the cessation of hostilities stressing
that "disagreements remain on the issue of the release of political
detainees".
However an African official involved in the peace
process told Sudan Tribune that there are also some disagreements on the
cessation of hostilities, pointing that Juba demands to be able to
impose its authority in the rebel held towns.
Juba also refuses a
map detailing the positions the rebels claim they are controlling, the
African Union source said, underlining that the two parties accepted
that international observersbe commissioned with the monitoring of the
cessation of hostilities.
UN agencies estimate that 250,000 people
are displaced inside the country and thousands of refugees who fled to
the neighbouring countries.
UGANDA MILITARY INTERVENTION
A rebel adviser who preferred anonymity told Sudan Tribune on Thursday that Uganda’s military intervention in South Sudan is also likely slow the peace process.
The
source said rebels are not happy that a member of IGAD, the regional
that is brokering the talks,has deployed troops in South Sudan.
Rebel
negotiators are "most likely" to raise that issue in the coming days
and might insist that Uganda withdraws its forces before any signing
ceasefire agreement, he said.
Uganda has continued this week to
deploy troops into South Sudan. Kampala says the reinforcement is to
secure major installations such as the airport and not to become
directly involved in the conflict, but rebels say the Ugandan troops are
actively involved in the fighting.
A spokesman for the rebel
delegation in Ethiopia, Brigader General Lul Raui Kong, on Wednesday
accused Ugandan Air Forces of attacking rebel positions in South Sudan,
an allegation Kampala denies.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni,
who is considered as a close ally of Kiir, has warned Machar against
rejecting the ceasefire offer, warning that failing to agree to ceasing
hostilities would result in IGAD member states uniting to defeat him.
The rebels describe such statements as an indication of Museveni’s bias.
Source Sudan Tribune
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