Veteran Anya-Nya-II leader dies

June 27, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s veteran leader of the former Anya-Nya Two rebels, Vincent Kuany Latjor, has died after battling illness for a long time.

Latjor, 74 years old, died in Khartoum in the early morning of Thursday, 27th June. His body will be flown to Juba on Saturday for burial.

The late leader was a fighter in the Anya-Nya One movement under the command of the current special presidential advisor, Joseph Lagu. He was then commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) after the Addis Ababa agreement in 1972.

In 1975 at the rank of 1st Lieutenant he rebelled against Khartoum again from Akobo military barrack, warning of imminent Khartoum’s violation of the Addis Ababa agreement.

He led a force from Akobo across the border into the current Gambella region of Ethiopia and carried out limited military operations against the government of the day.

Late Latjor was the founder of the historical military headquarters, Bilpam, as he was the first leader to establish the area which later on too became the main base for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) from 1983 to 1991 under late John Garang de Mabior.

When the SPLM/A took over Bilpam from him in 1983, Latjor refused to continue to lead a separate force of Anya-Nya Two and began to play a low profile in political and military life, leaving his deputy Gordon Koang Chol to lead the forces.

In 2004 the veteran leader was promoted to the rank of a Major General in the Sudan Armed Forces under the command of late Paulino Matip Nhial.

Even before rejoining the SPLA with the forces of late Matip, the veteran fighter continued to self-retire himself by not actively involving in either political or military activities.

He was known for being a staunch advocate for separation of South Sudan from [North] Sudan.

(ST)