Categories: NewsPolitics

South Sudan’s Machar Wants House Arrest Lifted

South Sudan’s opposition leader, Riek Machar says he is ready to pursue progressive peace talks with president Salva Kiir, nearly a year after the latest peace deal was signed.

In a letter to Kiir’s security adviser, seen by AFP Friday, Machar laid out a series of demands that he wants met before the pair could sit down face-to-face in Juba.

South Sudan slid into war in 2013 just two years after gaining independence, when Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup.

But the rivals struck a peace deal in September and agreed to set up a unity government.

Stalled peace
That power-sharing arrangement was supposed to take effect in May but was delayed until November, and the process has stalled.

Machar said he was ready to sit down face-to-face with Kiir and discuss a way forward if certain assurances were made.

“I believe this is the time to evaluate the process as two months of extended period have passed without substantial progress,” Machar wrote.

Machar’s demands
Among the demands, Machar said he must be allowed to travel freely to countries under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional grouping.

He resides in Sudan at present but cannot travel to the other IGAD nations — South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Ethiopia.

Machar also said the terms of his house arrest must be lifted.
He fled into exile in 2016 after a peace deal signed the year before collapsed, sparking deadly violence.

South Sudan’s civil war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced some four million and left the oil-rich country’s economy in ruins.

AFP

Tags: riek machar
Albert Echetah

Recent Posts

South African Group Petitions For Chidimma Adetshina’s Removal FromInternational Miss Universe Pageant Over Identity Fraud Allegations

A group called Progressive Forces in South Africa has launched a petition against MissUniverse Nigeria Chidimma Adetshina, with the aim…

November 5, 2024

Mauritius Reopens Social MediaAccess in Response to PublicPressure

Mauritius on Saturday overruled its decision to prohibit social media until the election onNovember 10th which was caused by a…

November 5, 2024

UAE Crown Prince Arrives in Ethiopia for WorldWithout Hunger Conference

The UAE’s Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed AlNahyan was in Addis Ababa…

November 5, 2024

Zimbabwe’s rich (Mbingas) linked to state looting

Gilbert Machokoto, a former teacher, said that setting up a business in the late 1980s, shortlyafter Zimbabwe's independence, was ‘like…

November 4, 2024

Historic Shift in Botswana as PresidentConcedes to Opposition Victory

Following elections in which the party that had ruled the diamond-rich nation for almost 60years suffered a historic setback. Botswana's…

November 4, 2024

Lightning Strike at Uganda Refugee CampClaims 14 Lives, Including Children

A lightning strike at a refugee camp in Uganda kills 14 people including children with 34 othershospitalized. The incident happened…

November 4, 2024

This website uses cookies.