South Sudan warns of reprisal for countries backing Jonglei rebels
May 27, 2013 (JUBA) - South Sudan has warned that it will no longer tolerate being attacked by “mercenaries” allegedly fighting a proxy war for foreign countries, the country’s minister of defence said. South Sudan’s defence minister John Kong Nyuon (Reuters) Minister John Kong, said that Jonglei rebel leader David Yauyau "must unconditionally respond to the amnesty" which president Salva Kiir re-issued recently, warning that if he fails to do so Yauyau should be prepared for South Sudan’s army to "hunt" and capture him. South Sudan’s military - the SPLA - "is capable [of] chasing and even bringing him alive so that he could come and explain why he is doing all this. Why [is he] fighting a mercenary war? Why [has he] accepted to be used against his own people?" he asked. He did not mention the foreign government by name but Juba regularly accuses neighbouring Sudan of backing Yauyau and other Southern rebel groups as a means to destabilise the two-year-old nation. Khartoum denies backing the rebels but those who have accepted president Salva Kiir’s offer of an amnesty, including the South Sudan Liberation Army in Unity state, say that they were based in and supported by Sudan. On the other hand, Juba also denies backing the SPLA’s former colleagues north of the new international border in Blue Nile and South Kordofan were the SPLA-North is fighting the government following disputed elections and the failure to implement the parts of the peace deal put aside for the two areas. Yauyau’s rebellion, which is based in Jonglei state’s Pibor county has been a cause of embarrassment for the SPLM government in recent weeks with the rebels taking an holding parts of the strategically and historically important Boma town for several days. A week ago the SPLA re-entered Boma but lost four soldiers in the process. Twelve others were wounded, while 20 members of Yauyau’s rebellion were killed, according to South Sudan’s military. The SPLA’s spokesman, Philip Aguer said the army "captured lots of weapons and the army is now in the process of identifying them to find out their sources and the countries of manufacture,” he revealed. A number of food items and alcohol allegedly imported from neighbouring Eritrea were also reportedly recovered from the rebels. Earlier in May a large number of soldiers abandoned their posts in Pibor and returned to the state capital Bor, accusing the army of not feeding or paying them. The renegade soldiers also set up an illegal road block on the Juba-Bor road. Journalists in Juba have complained that security services have put pressure on media outlets to only report the SPLA’s side of the story in Jonglei, some claiming that they have been forced into self censorship. Yauyau, who first rebelled after failing to become a Jonglei state MP in 2010, has called for an eleventh state in South Sudan for marginalised minority groups like his own Murle tribe. So far no ethnic groups in the east of the country, such as the Anuak, have expressed any interested in the proposal. Speaking on South Sudan television on Saturday, Kong said that if Yauyau refused the amnesty or to "compromise this time. We will bring him and his masters to their sense. We will take the fight to where they organize. We know the foreign countries supporting him.” Following a visit to Jonglei over weekend Minister Kong urged the citizens to help the government in dealing with the situation. "Working together whether we are individuals or group in support of our government plans and the SPLA forces in particular is very important because country is at a crossroads", Kong said. He called on the people to define the nature and scope of the struggle, or else it will define them, asserting people should be mindful that “no nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare". “Neither the SPLA nor the President can promise the total defeat of any enemy. We will never erase the evil that lies in the hearts of some human beings, nor stamp out every danger to our open society. But what we can do what we must do. We will dismantle networks that pose a direct danger to us, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all the while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend. And to define that strategy, we have to make decisions based not on fear, but on hard-earned wisdom. That begins with understanding the current threat that we face”, he explained. He warned that South Sudan was "still threatened by enemies of peace and our stability. From our border areas with Sudan to Jonglei, we have been tragically reminded of that truth that we are still at war. Nothing has changed. We are still at liberation phase. We have not crossed anymore. The SPLA still needs support of our people in all the areas." The SPLA fought various Khartoum governments or over two decades until a 2005 peace deal granted the South the right to vote for secession from the rest of Sudan in 2011. Although the plebiscite went ahead peacefully a host of issues remain unresolved such as demarcating the border and resolving the status of disputed areas. South Sudan state television also showed images of Kong’s deputy Majak D’ Agoot and Chief of General Staff as some senior officials and top level military officers who paid a visit to the SPLA held areas in Pibor county. The governor of Jonglei, Kuol Manyang Juuk, and other state officials were also seen calling on the citizens to help the SPLA combat the rebellion. He called for the public to provide the army with information about the rebels and their activities. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. 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