Sudan government plays down merger between southern militias

KHARTOUM, Nov 1 (AFP) — The Sudanese government on Saturday played down the importance of a merger between the southern main rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA), and a pro-government militia.

Foreign ministry under secretary Mutref Siddeiq said the merger between the SPLA and Lam Akol’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-United (SPLM-United) would change nothing to the peace talks to end the 20-year civil war.

“Akol will not add anything … with regards to the negotiations .. he is a restless and ambitious personality,” he said.

The SPLM-United is also based in southern Sudan. The merger was announced Friday in Nairobi, as the SPLA and Khartoum are in the final stages of talks aimed at ending 20 years of civil war.

At the start of the civil war Akol was an SPLA commander but he broke away in the early 1990s and began flirting with the government, which gave him a ministerial portfolio in 1997.

On October 25, Lam Akol accused Khartoum of breaking the terms of the accord they struck in 1997 by denying him permission to visit his fighters in the areas of Upper Nile province they control.

Siddeiq confirmed that Khartoum had “tried to prevent him from travelling” to this province “because the government, regarding him as a member of parliament, fears for his safety from groups hostile to him”.