---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "John Ashworth" <[email protected]> Date: 21 Aug 2016 14:07 Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] Articles on Dr Riek Machar To: "Group" <[email protected]> Cc:
1. Riek Machar flees S Sudan, 'in care' of DRC authorities UN spokesman says Machar is in the care of authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo after fleeing South Sudan. 18 AUGUST 2016 Al Jazeera South Sudan's former vice president and opposition leader Riek Machar "is in the care" of the authorities in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations has said, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital Juba during fierce fighting with government troops. The news on Thursday came after a statement by the leadership of the SPLA In Opposition party said Machar had left South Sudan on Wednesday to a "safe country within the region", without giving any further details on his exact whereabouts. "We were aware yesterday of the presence of Riek Machar in DRC," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Thursday. "At that point the UN Mission contacted the authorities in the DRC who in turn requested MONUSCO [UN's mission in the DRC] to facilitate his extraction and his transfer to the care of the DRC. "We have undergone an extraction operation and so he is currently in the care of the authorities in the DRC." A DRC government spokesman, however, told Al Jazeera later on Thursday that they had not been officially informed of Machar's presence in the country. "They said they are aware that he is in one of the border areas of DRC but they have no official information of Machar being under their care, which is contradictory to the statement of the UN," Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan, reporting from Juba, said. Earlier on Thursday, a Machar aide told the AFP news agency that the former vice president was in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, and wanted "to go as soon as possible to Ethiopia". Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to his longtime rival President Salva Kiir before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president. But fighting flared last month, leading Machar to withdraw with his forces from Juba around mid-July. "Throughout that period, from July up to yesterday, nobody knew where he was," Al Jazeera's Morgan said. Since the outbreak of fighting in July, Kiir has sacked Machar from his post and appointed Taban Deng Gai, a former opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar, as vice president. The UN told Kiir that any political changes must be consistent with the peace deal, which stated that the vice president must be chosen by the South Sudan Armed Opposition. Last week, the UN Security Council approved the deployment of an additional 4,000-strong peacekeeping force in South Sudan, after the July infighting threatened to send the country back to all-out civil war. South Sudan initially rejected the resolution, claiming it "seriously undermines" its sovereignty, but later softened its stance. South Sudan's President Kiir told Al Jazeera on Sunday that it had not yet closed the door on a UN protection force. Ateny Wek Ateny, the presidential spokesman, said the government will accept the force, but only if it can negotiate its size, mandate, weapons and the contributing countries. The civil war in South Sudan began in December 2013 when government forces loyal to President Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, battled rebels led by Machar, a Nuer. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the fighting and more than two million people were displaced. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/riek-machar-flees- sudan-care-drc-authorities-160818174515204.html END1 2. South Sudan conflict: Sacked VP Riek Machar goes into exile 18 August 2016 BBC The sacked vice-president of South Sudan has left the country, weeks after deadly clashes between his troops and government forces in the capital. A spokesperson said Riek Machar was in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa but that he wanted to travel on to Ethiopia. According to the Associated Press news agency, the UN had indicated Mr Machar was in danger and had assisted him. He initially fled the capital, Juba, during violence in July. A UN spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said the UN had learned on Wednesday that Mr Machar was in DR Congo near the South Sudan border and decided to airlift him to Kinshasa. The UN official said Mr Machar needed to be airlifted to safety and that he had been given medical assistance. Mr Machar demanded a neutral force be deployed in July to keep peace and guarantee his safety after his bodyguards and President Salva Kiir's presidential guards fought each other, sparking days of violence. Hundreds of people died and more than 100,000 fled across the border. The fighting erupted less than a year after a peace deal was signed to form a unity government and end the civil war. The UN has launched an independent investigation into allegations that its peacekeepers failed to respond when troops loyal to Mr Kiir attacked a residential compound popular with foreign aid workers last month. During the attack, a local journalist was shot dead at point-blank range and troops reportedly raped several women, among them foreigners working for relief agencies. Political differences between Mr Machar and Mr Kiir ignited the civil war in December 2013 - and they only agreed to settle their differences under intense international pressure, signing a peace deal last August. Mr Machar returned to Juba in April to take up the post of vice-president, but President Kiir dismissed him in the wake of the latest violence. He has not been seen in public since and his exact whereabouts are unknown. A member of his opposition SPLA-IO party told the BBC he was en route to Ethiopia, via the Democratic Republic of Congo, but earlier media reports said he was in Tanzania or Chad. Mr Machar had been "safely evacuated to a safe country in the region" after a "botched attempt to assassinate" him, a statement from the SPLA-IO said. Last week, the UN authorised a 4,000-strong African protection force for Juba with a more robust mandate than the 12,000 UN soldiers already in the country. But South Sudan's government said it opposed the deployment and it is not clear how the mission can go ahead without its co-operation. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37116862 END2 3. Former South Sudan FVP thanks UN, DRC government for care August 20, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese former First Vice President, Riek Machar, has thanked the United Nations system and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for relocating him from the border and taking care of him, his wife, Angelina Teny, and other senior officials with him. Speaking through his official spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, who shared the message on his Facebook page on Friday, Machar also thank President Joseph Kabila of the DR Congo for his government’s hospitality. “The First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO), thanked the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or MONUSCO, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), under the leadership of His Excellency President Joseph Kabila, for their hospitality by airlifting him and his officials from the South Sudan-DRC border and for taking good care of him and his officials in the DRC,” Dak posted Machar’s message on Facebook page. Machar, he added, also congratulated the “gallant” opposition forces for courageous fight in self-defence in and around Juba, which successfully evacuated the senior political and military leadership of the armed faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO). Dak also said his boss is fine, but “exhausted” due to 40 days of walking in the wilderness around Juba and towards the Congolese border. He added that Machar, whom the SPLM-IO consider as the legitimate First Vice President, is establishing contacts with the leaderships of IGAD, AU and the UN, and will soon tour the IGAD member states. Machar fled the capital when he was reportedly lured to the presidential palace to get killed, but escaped. His residence was later on bombed by forces loyal to President Kiir and followed into the bushes around Juba with the aim to capture or kill him. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article59980 END3 4. Machar in DR Congo cared for by authorities: UN August 19, 2016 (JUBA) - United Nations headquarters in New York has revealed that its peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo airlifted the former First Vice President, Riek Machar, from the South Sudan-DRC border and transported him into the interior part of Congo on Wednesday. The UN said the Congolese government has been taking care of the opposition leader who is “exhausted” after five weeks in the bushes around the capital, Juba, and walking towards the DRC border. The UN spokesperson, Farah Haq, said in a daily briefing to journalists in New York on Thursday that Machar was located in the border of South Sudan and DR Congo by the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). “We have undergone an extraction operation and so he is currently in the care of the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Haq in New York on Wednesday. He said Machar was "treated" by the MONUSCO for illness he did not disclose. He said Machar’s wife and ten other military generals have been given to the care of DR Congo government. Machar’s officials said their leader is doing fine but had “exhausted” from being in the wilderness for 40 days, walking on foot. They said he will speak to the media in the next few days as he establishes contacts with leaderships of IGAD, AU and UN. The opposition leader whom they also consider as the legitimate first vice president in South Sudan is also expected to tour the IGAD member countries to share views on the way forward. He fled Juba last month following street battle which started at the palace on 8 July and in his residence on 10 July between his small number of troops and huge number of forces loyal to President Salva Kiir. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article59975 END4 5. South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar flees to DRC Former vice president has been handed to authorities in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, says UN Reuters in Juba Guardian Thursday 18 August 2016 20.24 BST Last modified on Thursday 18 August 201621.00 BST Riek Machar, South Sudan’s former vice president and opposition leader, is in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN has said, weeks after he withdrew from South Sudan’s capital, Juba, during violent clashes with government troops. The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC became aware of Machar’s presence in the country on Wednesday and contacted the Congolese government, who then asked the mission to extract Machar from his location, a UN spokesman said. “Riek Machar has been handed over to the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We’re not in a position to confirm his location,” Farhan Haq said. A spokesman for the DRC’s government, Lambert Mende, denied it had been in touch with anyone about helping the former South Sudanese vice president. But Haq said Machar was extracted from an area close to the border with South Sudan. “We can confirm that an operation was undertaken by the Monusco UN mission on humanitarian grounds to facilitate the extraction of Riek Machar, his wife and 10 others from a location in the DRC in support of the DRC authorities,” Haq said, adding that Monusco had been considered the best suited party to move Machar safely. A statement issued by the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement In Opposition said Machar had left on Wednesday to a “safe country within the region”. Machar led a two-year rebellion against forces loyal to his longtime rival President Salva Kiir before the two sides reached a peace deal in August 2015. Under the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to resume his role as vice president. But fighting flared last month, leading Machar to withdraw with his forces from Juba in mid-July. An opposition spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, writing on his Facebook page, said its fighters had “successfully relocated our leader to a neighbouring country where he will now have unhindered access to the rest of the world and the media”. Machar had sustained a leg injury from weeks of walking in the bush but it was not serious enough to require medical attention, Dak said. Since the fighting last month, Kiir has sacked Machar from his post and replaced him with Taban Deng Gai, a former opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar. The UN told Kiir that any political changes must be consistent with the peace deal, which stated that the vice president must be chosen by the South Sudan Armed Opposition. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/18/south-sudan- opposition-leader-riek-machar-drc-democratic-republic-congo END5 6. South Sudan former rebel leader urged to denounce violence August 21, 2016 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese government has urged the country’s former first vice-president, Riek Machar to denounce violence and rebellion, before returning to the country’s capital, Juba or else stay away from active politics. “If Riek Machar wants to come back to South Sudan, then he should denounce violence," information minister, Michael Makeui Lueth told the state-owned SSBC TV on Saturday. The minister, also the government spokesperson, blamed the armed opposition leader for allegedly triggering the outbreak of fighting between the rival factions last month. At least 270 soldiers were killed when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir clashed with those allied to Machar in the country’s capital, before a ceasefire was declared days later. "It is his [Machar’s] coming here [Juba] which created this violence. So he should denounce violence so that we do not go back to war," said Makuei. Machar fled Juba last month and is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sources say. Although regional bloc (IGAD) still recognised Machar as the legitimate first vice president, Makuei says that decision be made by the armed opposition members. “The IGAD has no right to impose Riek Machar on the movement. When Riek Machar was elected, it was not IGAD that brought him to lead that movement called the SPLM IO, it is the people who elected him," said the minister. A faction of the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) in Juba nominated Taban Deng Gai, a former chief negotiator to replace Machar in July, but his appointment was described as "illegal" by Machar’s supporters and regional leaders. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article59990 END6 7. Machar’s successor sets condition for stepping down as VP August 20, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan’s newly appointed first vice president, Taban Deng Gai has conditioned stepping down from his position, asserting that his predecessor should first accept to cut down his security details before resuming office. Taban Deng Gai, a former chief negotiator during peace talks between government of president Kiir and armed opposition, told reporters in Kenya that he has managed to create a better working relationship at the presidency than did his predecessor. “We are moving forward. If Riek comes and he conditioned that for the country to have peace, that he must return to the palace we shall discuss that, including that Riek if you go back to your office this time, you don’t have huge army to move with you. This time you listen to the voices of the people that people of South Sudan will not need crisis any longer”, said Gai. He reiterated that he would only step down if doing so would bring peace to the country. “I am also telling you if my stepping down can bring peace to South Sudan I’m ready when time comes. But what I am doing now I am not delaying the implementation of peace waiting for anybody, I am to the task, I am capable of delivery. I managed to create harmony now in the presidency in the government of national unity”, he added. He claimed that a faction of the SPLM-IO members who could not escape following the fighting that happened in July asked themselves whether to stick to peace or allow the country to return to war. “I’m glad to inform you that the leadership of the SPLM in Opposition has decided to stick to the position of implementing peace, because the country has no option better than continuing with the implementation of the peace. The country needs peace," said Gai. The former rebel chief negotiator further explained that the peace agreement is good for the people of South Sudan and can take them out of crisis and move forward in the road of peace and reconciliation and bring about the development of the country. He claimed that what was lacking after formation of unity government was a cohesive leadership in the country, saying the presidency did not have a good working relationship. "The council of ministers of the transitional government of national unity was also not cohesive. The former chairman of SPLA IO was leading a parallel government in Juba. There was nothing to be called a team, even you members of the press who were in Juba witnessed that the existence of parallel armies is what brought crisis that led to the killing in Juba and the former FVP moving away from Juba”, explained Gai. He also said he did not follow Machar since the latter opted to fight another civil war. “I and the leadership of SPLA IO decided to remain in Juba to implement peace”, added Gai. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article59988 END7 8. Riek Machar seeking help for ailing eye By Standard Reporter Updated Sun, August 21st 2016 at 00:00 GMT +3 Reports from Isiro in DRC where ousted South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar is under protection indicated yesterday that he is seeking a visa for eye treatment in South Africa. On Friday, UN helicopters carrying Dr Machar returned to Dungu where he was evacuated from days earlier to take away about 75 soldiers from his army. UN admitted that peacekeepers in DRC rescued Machar and his wife Angelina Teny from the jungle. The Standard on Sunday independently established that the ousted VP’s entry into DRC was facilitated by Chad with support from Sudan. Following the Chadian intervention, the Kinshasa government authorised its military intelligence to extract Machar from Dungu, about 90km from DRC’s border with South Sudan but the planned rescue mission was abandoned for lack of adequate capacity. Independent reports indicate that the DRC government contacted an official in Monusco known to Machar to arrange an evacuation. A plan to send an aircraft from Nairobi to Dungu was abandoned on Wednesday. Later that day, UN helicopters from Goma in the East of the DRC lifted the ousted VP and part of his entourage to Isiro, about 200km southwest of Dungu. On Thursday evening, reports from the DRC alleged that Machar was handed over to Congolese and Sudanese officials at Isiro who flew in from Kinshasa. A transport plane from Khartoum carrying commandos and a top official landed at Isiro airstrip. Initially, UN officials in Nairobi and the peacekeeping mission in DRC, MONUSCO denied knowledge of the rescue which was exclusively reported by The Standard on Thursday before Machar’s spokesman James Gatdet Dak also admitted the former VP had fled into DRC. The report indicated that the ousted VP was wounded and stranded at Dungu, after entering DRC around August 12 after Chad intervened on his behalf with the government of President Joseph Kabila. On Thursday evening the UN disclosed that Monusco evacuated Machar, his wife and ten other people “on humanitarian grounds” on August 17. “We can confirm that an operation was undertaken by Monusco on humanitarian grounds to facilitate the extraction of Riek Machar, his wife and ten others from a location in the DRC, in support of the DRC authorities,” read the statement in part. >From the UN statement it is not clear how the UN discovered Machar was in DRC but it implies Monusco knew about his arrival in Kinshasa. “As soon as Monusco was alerted of the presence of Riek Machar in the DRC, the Mission contacted the DRC authorities, who requested Monusco to facilitate his extraction and transfer to their care. Riek Machar has been handed over to the DRC authorities. We are not in a position to confirm his location,” said the UN statement on Thursday. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000212782/riek- machar-seeking-help-for-ailing-eye END8 ______________________ John Ashworth [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +44 787 976 8030 (UK mobile) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) Skype: jashworth1 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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