S. Sudanese Rebels Agree Direct Negotiations with Museveni

{{A spokesperson for the leader of the South Sudanese armed opposition faction, Riek Machar, said the SPLM/A in Opposition welcomed the recent direct face-to-face negotiations between Machar and the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni on the sideline of the Tuesday IGAD regional leaders’ summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.}}

“We welcomed the direct negotiations with President Yoweri Museveni on the side of Salva Kiir during the face-to-face meeting with our leader, Dr. Riek Machar on Tuesday in Addis Ababa,” Machar’s spokesperson James Gatdet Dak told media when contacted on Wednesday.

The rebel leader’s spokesperson claimed that the Ugandan president was “imposing his will” on president Salva Kiir and that his direct engagement on certain issues such as withdrawal of his forces was crucial.

“We knew all along that president Museveni is the co-architect of the 15th December crisis in South Sudan and his continued influence on Salva Kiir’s decisions has negatively impacted on the peace process,” Dak claimed, adding that “it was worth it to also negotiate directly with Museveni on withdrawal of his forces from South Sudan.”.

Dak explained that during the Addis Ababa interactions between the two rival leaders in the presence of other regional leaders, Museveni was seated next to President Salva Kiir and was the main speaker negotiating on behalf of the South Sudanese president.

The rebel leader’s spokesperson added that president Museveni agreed to pull out his troops from South Sudan in implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement which demanded the withdrawal of all foreign forces from South Sudan.

He however said it remained to be seen if the Ugandan president meant his words, underlining that in the past he resisted to withdraw his troops since 23 January when the first agreement on cessation of hostilities was inked.

The Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) were deployed in mid-December last year to help protect and secure the leadership of president Salva Kiir amidst violent conflict which erupted between the leading figures of the ruling party (SPLM).

{sudantribune}