Renegade General George Athor denies formation of coalition government
* Article
* Comments (17)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
May 1, 2011 (WUNROK) - Renegade General George Athor Deng Dut on
Sunday broke his silence and denied the formation of the coalition
government which was widely reported in Khartoum media last week.
JPEG - 65.2 kb
Rebel George Athor and some of his troops (www.sudanvotes.com)
On 27 April, The pro-Sudanese intelligence service SMC posted on its
website a story claiming that six rebel factions formed a coalition
council in which a renegade General George Athor was selected as
president. It further claimed Abdel Bagi Ayii was vice president,
Peter Gadet Yak secretary of defense and Gatuak Gai general chief of
staff and deputy secretary for operations.
Bol Gatkuoth Kol was also alleged to have been named secretary general
of foreign affairs and official spokesman of the movement.
Abiel Riing Mijak, a senior member of the rebel South Sudan Democratic
Army (SSDA), on 29 April told Sudan
Tribune->http://www.sudantribune.com/Six-reb...], that six rebel
factions formed a coalition council of rebel movements and named
renegade General George Athor as president of the new body. He claimed
that the body would serve as an entity for strategic planning and the
organisation of the unified operations.
“Yes, it is true. The council has been formed. It was formed on
Wednesday ", said Mijak.
"There have been suggestions and discussions for the last one month to
form a body which would control central command and strategic planning
and develop clear and unified policies to guide operation of various
movements. This has now been formed. The chairman and the vice have
been unanimously appointed. General George Athor and General Abdel
Bagi Ayii Akol were selected to lead the transitional period of the
coalition of movement", he further said.
In an interview with Sudan Tribune on Sunday, Mijak claimed the
council decided to postpone the formation of the new coalition after
he had spoken to the media.
"The council decided to postpone the formation of the coalition after
General George Athor proposed deferment so that processes of
organisations are initiated and completed. The decision was also taken
after I have spoken to the media", said Mijak explaining that the
meeting was held by the members who decided to form the coalition by
consensus.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune from undisclosed location in South Sudan on
satellite phone, renegade General George Athor said, the media reports
were not correct but admitted that a meeting was called and held on
Wednesday by Sultan Abdel Bagi Ayii Akol over unified operations and
command.
"The media reports that there was a coalition government of which I am
said to have been elected as its president and Sultan Abdel Bagi Ayii
Akol as vice president are not correct. This did not happen," said
Athor, admitting that a meeting was called and held by Sultan Abdel
Ayii Akol with other rebel groups on Wednesday to discuss how to
coordinate operations and other strategic planning under one command.
"Yes, I am aware a meeting was called to discuss how to form a unified
command. The members of course discussed about forming a coalition but
which should be after organisation. A final consensus was reached on
Wednesday in a meeting called by Sultan Abdel Bagi Ayii. I was
informed but I told them to put it on hold because we are still in the
process of organising ourselves.
"The discussions on time to establish the interim leadership have not
been concluded. All members of the movement are still discussing
processes of organisation to hold convention in which leadership of
the movement shall be elected in a free and fair voting," explained
Athor.
He further explained that his movement, the South Sudan Democratic
Movement is a democratic movement founded on democratic principles and
values in which any leader in the movement who wants to hold any
position must achieve it by election.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD
info" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
