George Athor was using a fake Kenyan passport: sources

December 21, 2011 (JUBA) – The late rebel leader George Athor who was killed on Monday during a clash with a force from the Sudan people Liberation Army (SPLA) in Central Equatoria state, was masquerading as a Kenyan citizen, Sudan Tribune has learnt.

The Kenyan passport, discovered by the military after his demise, reveals that Athor had been travelling under the name of Samuel Otieno as Kenyan national.

Athor was killed while driving through DRC and Uganda after coming from Rwanda, according to the press statement by South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar. He was rounded up by SPLA in Morobo County where he was on a mission to recruit supporters in Central Equatoria.

The rebel leader, whose hometown was Pigi County in Jonglei state, was killed instantly with one of his officers, Thomas Duoth Makuach, a U.S. citizen originally from Nasir county in Upper Nile state.

The military sources in Juba said that further investigations will be conducted on how Athor was able to obtain this forged Kenyan passport.

South Sudanese officials, who accuse Khartoum of supporting the rebel groups, suspect that the passport was provided by the Sudanese intelligence to the renegade general.

Athor’s supporters claim that their leader died at the hand of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, saying that he went to Kampala for talks with Museveni on the peace process with South Sudan government.

The deceased ex-SPLA general has been leading a rebellion against the government of South Sudan since his defection from the SPLA in 2010 after he was announced to have lost the gubernatorial elections in Jonglei State, where he stood as an independent candidate.

(ST)