New leader of Sudan SPLM names Machar as deputy

NEW SITE, August 5, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — According to Al-Ittihadi (Democratic Unionist Party) website, the First Vice-President of the Republic and the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), Salva Kiir Mayardit, has appointed Riek Machar as his deputy in both the SPLM and Southern Sudan region.

Machar belongs to the Nuer ethnic community, the second largest tribe, in Southern Sudan, after the Dinka tribe, which is the tribe of the late Garang and his successor.

Last month before his death, the late Garang appointed Riek Machar as supervisor of Western Equatoria state.

Machar had disassociated himself from Garang in 1991, and signed a peace agreement with Khartoum in 1997, and was appointed assistant to President Umar al-Bashir. Machar later resigned from his position and rejoined Garang as his deputy.