BBC News - South Sudan's President Kiir fit to attend peace talks

Salva Kiir became the first president of independent South Sudan in 2011

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South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has met regional leaders at a peace summit in Addis Ababa, hours after concerns emerged about his health.

A BBC correspondent said Mr Kiir, 63, looked well as he greeted other leaders and took his seat for the talks.

However, the re-emergence of a dispute between Mr Kiir and his South Sudanese rival, Riek Machar, caused substantive talks to be postponed until Saturday.

The discussions are aimed at ending the civil war in South Sudan.

The conflict, which began in 2013, has caused about 1.5 million people to be displaced.

Regional leaders are pushing Mr Kiir and rebel leader Mr Machar to agree a peace deal.

Deadlocked

Earlier, it emerged that Mr Kiir had received medical treatment after suffering from nose bleeds on Wednesday, causing the intended start of the summit to be delayed.

Mr Kiir's aides denied reports that the president had been taken to hospital on Wednesday night.

Mr Machar is also in Addis Ababa for the talks, which are being chaired by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

Many people are taking refuge in UN compounds in South Sudan

Mr Kiir and Mr Machar met on Wednesday in the Ethiopian capital, in talks brokered by the regional body, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad).

The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza, who is at the summit, says the two sides have previously agreed to form a unity government but remain deadlocked over the powers of a new prime minister.

President Kiir sacked Mr Machar as South Sudan's deputy president in 2013 and later accused him of plotting a coup.

Mr Machar denied the allegation, but then raised a rebel force to fight government troops.

Mr Kiir has led South Sudan, the world's newest state, since its independence from Sudan in 2011.

Exiled South Sudanese call for UPDF withdrawal before talks resume - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

January 20, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan’s Nuer community in Ethiopia has called for an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) from the country ahead of the resumption of a new round of peace talks between the rival SPLM factions.

A contingent of soldiers from the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (Photo courtesy New Vision)

The president of the Nuer community in Ethiopia, Koat Gatkuoth Thoat Diu, told Sudan Tribune that Uganda’s continued refusal to withdraw its forces in South Sudan would remain a major obstruction to the peace process being mediated by Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

He urged IGAD, the international community to exert more pressure on Uganda to halt its military intervention in the young East African nation.

During an official visit to Ethiopia last month, Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni said his troops would not pull out unless IGAD deploys a regional security force capable to replacing them.

Museveni argued that his decision was necessary to avoid a security vaccum.

“We didn’t go to south Sudan looking for [a] job. We deployed our troops because we have brothers there,” he said.

“We are not the problem in South Sudan and the problem is lack of peace among the South Sudanese people,” he added.

Uganda deployed its troops in South Sudan shortly after conflict erupted in December 2013 following a political dispute in the rival party (SPLM).

According to Museveni, troops are tasked with protecting civilians and public facilities from rebel attacks.

However, rebels have accused the UPDF of being actively involved in combat against opposition forces led by former vice-president Riek Machar, who is of Nuer ethnicity.

Rebel officials in Addis Ababa today told Sudan Tribune that Uganda’s continued defiance in response to repeated calls to withdraw from South Sudan will only jeopaerdise peace negotiations and further the suffering of the South Sudanese people.

Rebels also accuse the UPDF of taking part in targeted killings of ethnic Nuers alongside government forces and claim that Uganda is flouting an international ban on the use of cluster bombs.

Thousands have been killed as a result of the latest conflict in South Sudan, with about 1.9 million people also forced to flee their homes.

Ongoing peace negotiations in Ethiopia between the two warring SPLM factions have so far failed to yield a lasting political settlement to the crisis.

IGAD leaders are due to meet on 30 January to discuss the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

Machar and South Sudanese president Salva Kiir have also been invited to attend the summit, in which both are expected to face renewed pressure from regional leaders to reach peace deal.

Exiled South Sudanese call for UPDF withdrawal before talks resume - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

January 20, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan’s Nuer community in Ethiopia has called for an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) from the country ahead of the resumption of a new round of peace talks between the rival SPLM factions.

A contingent of soldiers from the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (Photo courtesy New Vision)

The president of the Nuer community in Ethiopia, Koat Gatkuoth Thoat Diu, told Sudan Tribune that Uganda’s continued refusal to withdraw its forces in South Sudan would remain a major obstruction to the peace process being mediated by Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

He urged IGAD, the international community to exert more pressure on Uganda to halt its military intervention in the young East African nation.

During an official visit to Ethiopia last month, Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni said his troops would not pull out unless IGAD deploys a regional security force capable to replacing them.

Museveni argued that his decision was necessary to avoid a security vaccum.

“We didn’t go to south Sudan looking for [a] job. We deployed our troops because we have brothers there,” he said.

“We are not the problem in South Sudan and the problem is lack of peace among the South Sudanese people,” he added.

Uganda deployed its troops in South Sudan shortly after conflict erupted in December 2013 following a political dispute in the rival party (SPLM).

According to Museveni, troops are tasked with protecting civilians and public facilities from rebel attacks.

However, rebels have accused the UPDF of being actively involved in combat against opposition forces led by former vice-president Riek Machar, who is of Nuer ethnicity.

Rebel officials in Addis Ababa today told Sudan Tribune that Uganda’s continued defiance in response to repeated calls to withdraw from South Sudan will only jeopaerdise peace negotiations and further the suffering of the South Sudanese people.

Rebels also accuse the UPDF of taking part in targeted killings of ethnic Nuers alongside government forces and claim that Uganda is flouting an international ban on the use of cluster bombs.

Thousands have been killed as a result of the latest conflict in South Sudan, with about 1.9 million people also forced to flee their homes.

Ongoing peace negotiations in Ethiopia between the two warring SPLM factions have so far failed to yield a lasting political settlement to the crisis.

IGAD leaders are due to meet on 30 January to discuss the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

Machar and South Sudanese president Salva Kiir have also been invited to attend the summit, in which both are expected to face renewed pressure from regional leaders to reach peace deal.

S. Sudan rebel commander vows to fight “dictatorship” - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

 A senior South Sudanese rebel commander has vowed never to return to government, unless a system to facilitate democracy and dismantle “dictatorship” was established.

General Dau Aturjong (ST)

In an interview with Sudan Tribune on Thursday, Gen. Dau Aturjong, said dictatorship had no future in South Sudan and has to be ended by decisive mass action to ensure peace and stability in the country.

“The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our movement and the people inside and outside the country can only culminate in the establishment of democracy if we work together to remove and dismantle the system which has been established,” he said.

Aturjong said the destruction caused by the country’s conflict has inflicted immeasurable pain on the people and can only be relieved if people joined the movement to work for establishment of strong institutions, not putting in place a system of strong men and women.

“The social fabric of our people has been shattered. Millions of our people are now homeless and unemployed. The economy of the country has been ruined and the national sovereignty and pride we fought to establish has been sold to the foreign countries to sustain tyranny and dictatorship,” the official told Sudan Tribune in an exclusive interview.

“Our struggle has reached decisive moment. We call on our people to seize this moment so that the process toward democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax our efforts now would be a mistake which the generation to come will not be able to forgive,” said Aturjong.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and about 1.8 million people displaced since violence broke out in the country over a year ago due to political disputes within South Sudan’s ruling party (SPLM).

Over 100,000 people currently live inside the United Nations protection of civilian camps, with many more in neighbouring Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia as the war shows no end signs.

Calls for both warring parties to cease hostilities have repeatedly been ignored, despite mediation efforts by the East African leaders.

“We call on our people to join us in the shaping of new South Sudan. The freedom of movement is a political home for all South Sudanese without distinction,” said Aturjong, an ex-army division commander.

“We call on the international community to continue the campaign to isolate the regime. Our march to freedom is a reversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way,” he added.

S. Sudan rebel commander vows to fight “dictatorship” - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

 A senior South Sudanese rebel commander has vowed never to return to government, unless a system to facilitate democracy and dismantle “dictatorship” was established.

General Dau Aturjong (ST)

In an interview with Sudan Tribune on Thursday, Gen. Dau Aturjong, said dictatorship had no future in South Sudan and has to be ended by decisive mass action to ensure peace and stability in the country.

“The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our movement and the people inside and outside the country can only culminate in the establishment of democracy if we work together to remove and dismantle the system which has been established,” he said.

Aturjong said the destruction caused by the country’s conflict has inflicted immeasurable pain on the people and can only be relieved if people joined the movement to work for establishment of strong institutions, not putting in place a system of strong men and women.

“The social fabric of our people has been shattered. Millions of our people are now homeless and unemployed. The economy of the country has been ruined and the national sovereignty and pride we fought to establish has been sold to the foreign countries to sustain tyranny and dictatorship,” the official told Sudan Tribune in an exclusive interview.

“Our struggle has reached decisive moment. We call on our people to seize this moment so that the process toward democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax our efforts now would be a mistake which the generation to come will not be able to forgive,” said Aturjong.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and about 1.8 million people displaced since violence broke out in the country over a year ago due to political disputes within South Sudan’s ruling party (SPLM).

Over 100,000 people currently live inside the United Nations protection of civilian camps, with many more in neighbouring Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia as the war shows no end signs.

Calls for both warring parties to cease hostilities have repeatedly been ignored, despite mediation efforts by the East African leaders.

“We call on our people to join us in the shaping of new South Sudan. The freedom of movement is a political home for all South Sudanese without distinction,” said Aturjong, an ex-army division commander.

“We call on the international community to continue the campaign to isolate the regime. Our march to freedom is a reversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way,” he added.