{"id":24237,"date":"2016-03-30T01:19:59","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T01:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/more-south-sudan-opposition-soldiers-arrive-in\/"},"modified":"2016-03-30T02:14:54","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T02:14:54","slug":"more-south-sudan-opposition-soldiers-arrive-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/more-south-sudan-opposition-soldiers-arrive-in\/","title":{"rendered":"More South Sudan opposition soldiers arrive in capital city"},"content":{"rendered":"

{The South Sudan government has received 39 opposition soldiers allied to designated first-vice president Riek Machar, paving way for Machar\u2019s imminent return to Juba to form the transitional government of national unity.}<\/p>\n

The latest arrival of the rebel forces came after 22 generals of the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM-IO) arrived in Juba last week.<\/p>\n

Dr Machar, who leads SPLM-IO, also indicated recently of his imminent return to Juba after talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi.<\/p>\n

The 39 soldiers who arrived in Juba on Monday represented the first batch of the SPLM-IO armed forces.<\/p>\n

Government spokesperson Michael Makuei hailed the arrival of the former rebels as a major milestone in the peace process.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018We are happy to receive in Juba the first batch of the SPLM-IO forces. These forces comprise 39 officers and men. This is the first group that has arrived and the rest will continue to arrive with time,\u201d he said late on Monday.<\/p>\n

MACHAR ARRIVAL<\/p>\n

Mr Makuei said more forces are expected to arrive within the week and the final batch will be in Juba before the end of this week, paving way for the arrival of Dr Machar next week.<\/p>\n

He called on those who transported the troops to continue supporting the government.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Committee Chairperson Festus Mogae told Xinhua in an interview that the Chinese government has assisted in the preparation of the sites where the soldiers and body guards will stay and has sunk boreholes in Juba on top of donating tents and other equipment to the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese government also delivered 1,700 tonnes of rice not only to feed the opposition soldiers but all presidential guards, because they are now going to be integrated into one force,\u201d Mr Mogae said.<\/p>\n

Mr Makuei expressed optimism that the process would end by the end of the week to allow Dr Machar to return next week, adding that following the arrival of Dr Machar the Transitional government would be formed in the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

SPLM-IO Chief Negotiator Taban Deng Gai said he was expecting Dr Machar to arrive soon, however he did not give any time frame.<\/p>\n

The arrival of the SPLM-IO forces has been a thorny issue in the implementation of the peace process. Dr Machar is expected in Juba after the arrival of 1,370 forces of his security detail.<\/p>\n

STARVATION<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, UN food experts warned today of \u201calarming\u201d levels of starvation in South Sudan with food prices at record highs after two years of civil war marked by atrocities.<\/p>\n

Fighting in the war rages despite an August agreement, and food experts have repeatedly warned parts of South Sudan\u2019s northern Unity region are on the brink of famine.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlarming reports of starvation, acute malnutrition and catastrophe levels of food insecurity have been reported in areas worst affected by the ongoing violence,\u201d the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement.<\/p>\n

It warned of \u201ca bleak forecast\u201d for the rest of year, with \u201crapidly depleting food supplies and a likely protracted lean season\u201d, adding that \u201cfood prices have reached record highs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s youngest country is struggling to stem soaring inflation caused by the war, rampant corruption and the near collapse of the oil industry upon which the vast percentage of government foreign exchange earnings depend.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood insecurity has spread to areas previously considered relatively stable, highlighting the cumulative impact of conflict, economic downturn and climactic shocks,\u201d FAO added.<\/p>\n

Fighting has spread to previously largely peaceful Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal regions, bread basket areas for the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreased fighting puts the upcoming agricultural season at risk, with alarming potential to impact on food security for the entirety of South Sudan,\u201d FAO added.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{The South Sudan government has received 39 opposition soldiers allied to designated first-vice president Riek Machar, paving way for Machar\u2019s imminent return to Juba to form the transitional government of national unity.} The latest arrival of the rebel forces came after 22 generals of the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM-IO) arrived in Juba […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100],"byline":[2461],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-24237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-africa","byline-daily-nation"],"bylines":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24237"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=24237"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=24237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}