---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Jul 14, 2016 at 8:22 AM Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] Dr Riek leaves Juba, not seeking war To: Group <[email protected]>
1. South Sudan's vice president leaves Juba, not seeking war: spokesman JUBA | BY DENIS DUMO Reuters Wed Jul 13, 2016 3:33pm EDT South Sudan's vice president has withdrawn with his troops to outside of Juba but is not planning for war, his spokesman said on Wednesday, as a ceasefire that ended heavy fighting with the president's forces entered its third day. Forces loyal to longtime rivals Vice President Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir fought street battles in the capital during a five-day period until a ceasefire was reached on Monday. The events mirror those of December 2013, when a two-year civil war began after Machar, sacked from his post as Kiir's deputy, withdrew his forces from Juba and launched a full-scale insurgency. "We had to move away from our base (in Juba) to avoid further confrontation," Machar's spokesman James Gatdet Dak in Nairobi told Reuters, saying he was in contact with Machar's forces. "He is around the capital. I cannot say the location." It was not clear what caused the latest rift between the two men who have long jostled for power, even before South Sudan's independence from Sudan in 2011. The flare-up was apparently sparked on Thursday when Kiir's forces stopped and demanded to search vehicles with Machar's troops. Gatdet Dak said Machar would stay away from Juba until ceasefire details were worked out. "He is not returning to the bush, nor is he organizing for war," the spokesman said, calling for an outside force to be deployed to act as a "buffer" between Machar and Kiir's forces. Other demands from Machar's side are to implement a joint command, an integrated armed force and a joint police force securing Juba, all issues laid out in a peace deal but not yet implemented, said Gatdet Dak. "This is the time for diplomacy ... in an attempt to return the government of national unity into its position," said Ateny Wek Ateny, the spokesman for President Kiir, adding Kiir had held a cabinet meeting with some opposition members on Tuesday. Kenya Airways, which suspended all its scheduled flights to Juba on Sunday, said it would restart them on Thursday, putting on a larger aircraft to clear the backlog. In another apparent parallel with 2013, Uganda said it was sending troops to South Sudan but this time they would only help evacuate Ugandans, Uganda government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said. In 2013, they had entered at Kiir's invitation to support his government as well help with evacuation, Opondo said. The latest upsurge in fighting has left many South Sudanese angry and uncertain. "Both Kiir and Machar should be held responsible for the killing of their own people, and for their soldiers who looted our property and killed my husband," said a tearful Juba resident Rose Juru, 28. Kiir and Machar signed the peace deal in August 2015, but spent months arguing over details. Machar returned to Juba in April and was reinstated as Kiir's deputy, a move that was meant to help cement the process. (Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema in Kampala and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Ralph Boulton) http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southsudan-security-idUSKCN0ZS19V END1 2. UN confirms Machar's troops driven out of Jebel bases NEW YORK/JUBA (13 Jul.) Radio Tamazuj United Nations peacekeepers have reported that opposition troops that came to Juba under the terms of a peace deal have abandoned their bases at the foot of Jebel mountain on the west side of Juba. This follows government attacks on the opposition bases including shelling and aerial bombardment over the weekend. According to Herve Ladsous, head of the Depratment of Peacekeeping Operations in New York, which oversees UNMISS, peacekeeping patrols have verified that SPLA-IO troops have left the Jebel bases. In a prepared statement to the UN Security Council today he said, “The mission has established that both SPLA in Opposition cantonment sites on the west side of Jebel Mountain have been abandoned.” Ladsous added, “Reportedly, Opposition forces are currently scattered around the areas of Jebel and Yei road while SPLA troops are setting up defensive positions along the Yei and Gudele road. Further clashes, therefore, cannot be ruled out.” The cantonment sites in Jebel were one of only two areas in Juba where SPLA-IO fighter were allowed under the terms of a negotiated security deal. The rest of the city was de facto controlled by President Salva Kiir's troops. Most of the fighting in recent days in Juba has concentrated in the two areas where SPLA-IO is based. By Sunday, the SPLA-IO said government troops had overrun their base in Jebel. Shortly after, Kiir announced a unilateral ceasefire. Celebratory gunfire was heard throughout the city. Yesterday, army spokesman Lul Ruai confirmed in an interview with Radio Tamazuj that their troops successfully overran the SPLA-IO base in the Jebel area of Juba, claiming they drove their forces out of the city. “We chased them from the city... and they ran away far,” he said. Lul's statement amounts to an admission that SPLA forces waged attacks on the SPLA-IO cantonment site. https://radiotamazuj.org/en/article/un-confirms-machars-troops-driven-out-jebel-bases END2 ______________________ John Ashworth [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 79 832 8834 (South Africa mobile) +44 787 976 8030 (UK mobile) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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