South Sudanese rebel leader in Djibouti on diplomatic tour
July 12, 2014 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar is in Djibouti on the fourth leg of an ongoing diplomatic tour in the region to explain the position of his group and galvanise support for the peace process, which is being mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The former vice-president and head of the armed opposition faction of the South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-In-Opposition), is expected to meet president Ismail Omar Guelleh.
Rebel leader’s spokesman James Gatdet Dak said the opposition faction’s delegation arrived in Djibouti on Saturday.
“Comrade Dr Riek Machar, chairman, has arrived in Djibouti on Saturday for consultations with the Djiboutian president, HE Ismail Omar Guelleh. The visit is in the interest of the IGAD-mediated peace talks in Addis Ababa,” Dak told Sudan Tribune on Saturday, without giving further details.
He said the rebel leader who left Addis Ababa in the morning was accompanied to Djibouti by Dhieu Mathok Diing, who is in charge of external relations for the rebel movement.
Machar last month visited Kenya and South Africa where he met president Uhuru Kenyatta and president Jacob Zuma respectively, in what the rebel group described as “successful and fruitful” interactions.
(ST)