S. Sudan government dragging feet on ceasefire agreement, say rebels
Hopes to sign a cessation of hostilities agreement between the South
Sudanese government and the rebels, who are referred to as the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Opposition, have slipped away
with the rebels blaming the government for the “intransigence.”
The two factions representing the government of Salva Kiir Mayardit
and the rebels led by former vice-president Riek Machar Teny have been
negotiating in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for the last three
weeks under the mediation of the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD), but with no progress.
The expected agreement
on the cessation of hostilities has been delayed because the two parties
could not yet agree on attaching the release of the political detainees
as part of the immediate implementation of the ceasefire and the
withdrawal of the Ugandan UPDF forces, said James Gatdet Dak, the
spokesperson for Machar.
"A final draft on the cessation of
hostilities has been worked out by the two parties in Addis Ababa. The
draft calls for the withdrawal of the foreign troops of the neighbouring
Uganda who were illegally invited to participate militarily in the
internal affairs of South Sudan by non-other than the president Salva
Kiir," Dak said.
He however decried the intransigent position of
the president who appeared to maintain his refusal to neither withdraw
the Ugandan forces nor release the political detainees.
"However,
the clear messages we receive from the side of the government indicate
that Kiir is not willing to agree on the withdrawal of the UPDF troops.
He also doesn’t want to release the SPLM leaders whom he wrongfully
detained in the capital," he further charged.
The spokesperson of
the former vice-president added that both the withdrawal of the UPDF
forces and the release of the detainees were genuine demands that should
be effected simultaneously with the coming into effect of the cessation
of hostilities agreement.
In Addis Ababa where the mediation
struggle to finalise the cessation of hostilities deal, the government
negotiating team did not come to the venue of talks Wednesday morning.
Sudan Tribune sought to get some explanation from the mediation but they refused to comment.
However,
diplomatic sources in Addis said the parties were expected to sign the
cessation of hostilities deal on Thursday afternoon.
Observers say
the recent military advances by the South Sudanese army in Bor and
Malakal give the government delegation greater leverage at the
negotiating table.
South Sudanese officials say that government
forces are now control all of the major towns previously under the
rebels control and that the latter have lost the war.
REBELS REFUTE CLAIMS OF WEAKNESS
Dak refuted allegations that the rebels have been weakened and may not fight back against the government.
He
further said the rebels have been reorganising their ranks and
preparing for a big thrust against the government’s strategic positions,
including the capital, if Juba continue to reject a ceasefire based on
its clear, simple demands and terms.
"It would be a wrong
assumption and regrettable mistake on the side of the government to
reject the demands of the pro-democracy SPLM/A forces, putting it on the
false hope and excitement that the democratic forces had lost the war,"
he said.
He claimed that the rebels tactically withdrew without a
fight from the towns they previously captured, saying this was in order
to reorganise for the next move if the cessation of hostilities
agreement was not insight.
The rebel official went to accuse the government forces of killing civilians and destroying public and private properties.
"The
pro-Kiir forces and their Ugandan mercenaries did not fight any body in
those towns of Bentiu, Bor and Malakal. They just came in and went on
rampage killing civilians, destroying the houses, burning them down,
including dismantling the phone network system in the case of Malakal.
That was the fight they did on the properties," he said.
South
Sudanese president spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, told a news conference
in Juba on Wednesday that the rebels killed 127 patients in Bor
hospital and destroyed houses and shops.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal
last week, South Sudanese president Salva Kiir refused to issue a
presidential pardon to release the 11 political detainees indicating
that he prefers they face justice.
"You cannot arrest somebody,
release him without showing him or showing the world the mistake he
committed, which led to the arrest," he said.
Source Sudan Tribune
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