Ex-adviser for Salva Kiir launches new rebellion in South Sudan
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March 23, 2011 (JUBA) – A former adviser for South Sudan president
Salva Kiir has declared war against the semi-autonomous government, a
spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) announced on
Tuesday.
JPEG - 41.1 kb
Major General Abdel-Bagi Ayii (Sudanese Media Center website)
The SPLA spokesperson Colonel Philip Aguer said in a televised
statement today from Juba that General Abdel-Bagi Ayii, from Northern
Bahr el-Ghazal state, had rebelled but did not give a reason for this
move.
Major General Ayii was a presidential adviser to Kiir, until the
government was reshuffled after the 2010 April elections.
He joins a growing list of disgruntled militia officers in the South
who have decided to take up arms, which now includes George Athor and
David Yauyau in Jonglei state and Gatluak Gai in Unity state, and
Oliny in Upper Nile state.
The Muslim figure was one of the former militias officers who joined
the South Sudan army in 2006 and had their forces integrated in the
SPLA.
The SPLA official reiterated accusations that the northern government
of President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir of fueling these defections by
arming militias in almost all the frontier states bordering with the
North.
Last week Major General Ayii made an interview to Sudanese Media
Center (SMC), a website closely linked to the country’s intelligence
circles, in which he accused the SPLM leadership of corruption and
giving preferential treatment to some figures.
He also claimed that Muslims in South Sudan suffer discrimination
citing examples of properties were taken away from them and given to
foreign investors.
The rebelled officer added that some ordinary citizens came up to him
saying that they suffer harassment because of their Muslim names and
where told that they should change them.
Major General Ayii has demanded disbanding the South Sudan government
and forming an interim one where Muslims are represented by 30%.
The rebellions will cast a shadow on the preparations for South
Sudan’s official independence next July. The people of the region
voted almost unanimously for secession in last January’s referendum.
(ST)
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