South Sudan Government Committed to Ceasefire

Leaders of South Sudan’s neighbors said on Friday President Salva Kiir committed to a ceasefire, and calls on rebel leader Riek Machar to make the same commitment, Aljaeera.net reported.

A statement released on Friday after the meeting of regional heads of state in the Kenyan capital Nairobi have stated that the east African body Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have agreed to consider taking action if the hostilities will not end within four days of the communique. The statement did not elaborate on the resulting measures.

Al Jazeera.net reported South Sudanese official has said it will release some of the politicians who are detained for links to the alleged coup as early as Saturday to ease tensions in the country. The continued detention of the politicians had been a major sticking point in the peace talks.

A communique from the 23rd Extraordinary Session of IGAD said “[IGAD] welcomes the commitment by the government of Republic of South Sudan to an immediate cessation of hostilities and calls upon Dr Riek Machar and other parties to make similar commitments,”

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta reportedly urged Kiir and his former deputy Machar earlier on Friday to seize “the small window of opportunity” and start peace talks after nearly two weeks of fighting between government troops and Machar loyalist.

“Let it be known that we in IGAD will not accept the unconstitutional overthrow of a duly and democratically elected government in South Sudan. Violence has never provided optimum solutions,” Kenyatta said, speaking in Nairobi.

South Sudan government forces and rebels were battling on Friday for control of Malakal, capital of South Sudan’s oil-producing Upper Nile State where witnesses reported heavy fighting overnight, Aljazeera.net reported. Reports said both government forces and the rebels claim they were in control after days of street battles.

A rebel spokesman in Unity State, Moses Ruai Lat, said “the whole of Malakal” was now in the hands of Machar’s loyalists, who already control Bentiu, capital of the neighboring Unity state, Aljazeera.net reported.

Lat told reporters “All those forces who are loyal to the president have been cleared and the former governor of Upper Nile, Simon Kun Poch, is on the run.”

However, South Sudan’s defense minister, Manyang Juuk, has described Lat’s claim as ‘disinformation’.

Juuk said “The elements loyal to Riek Machar were defeated and they are no longer in Malakal. The town is under full government control.” He added that government troops – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) – were reinforcing their presence in the area.

The violence in South Sudan started on December 15 after President Salva Kiir accused Machar of a coup attempt. Machar denied this accusation and claimed the president Kiir was exploiting a clash between members of the army as a pretext to carry out a purge.

The UN Security Council agreed earlier last week to double the size of its mission UNMISS, allowing for up to 12,500 soldiers and 1,300 police, after the violence went out of control, Aljazeera.net reported.

Source: Aljazeera.net

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