Southern Sudanese prominent leader defects to SPLA
KHARTOUM, Oct. 25, 2003 (dpa) — The leader of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army’s (SPLA) United faction, Lam Akol, left the faction Friday to rejoin the SPLA.
Akol made the announcement in a statement addressed to the Sudanese people in which he also declares war against the government. In the statement, a copy of which was faxed to Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa, Akol holds the government responsible for the political situation in the country.
The government prohibited Akol from visiting his forces, which control pockets in Upper Nile state in souther Sudan, Akol said. By doing this, the government has decided to hammer the last nail in the coffin of the Fashoda peace agreement, he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that Sudan’s government and main rebel group were committed to signing a comprehensive peace deal by the end of the year.
The government on Thursday reiterated its commitment to finding a peace deal with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) by the end of the year, contrary to media reports.
Akol, a chemical engineer, was a lecturer at Khartoum University and a leading member of the Sudan African Congress (SAC) party when he defected to the SPLA in 1986. In 1991 he split from the SPLA of Garang. In 1997 he signed the Fashoda peace agreement with the Islamic government and was appointed minister of transport in 1992.
His defection comes amid a move in the south to reunite political and military ranks prior to the signing of a comprehensive peace deal between the government and the SPLA.
Akol said since last November, the government, through Nafie Ali Nafie, the minister of federal rule, decided to split the SPLA United faction. The government started to transform the SPLA United faction into a pro-government militia, Akol said. When he went to Malakal, he was not allowed to leave the town to go and see his forces, he said.
“We have been patient for a long time to these violations of the agreement (Fashoda), but the government continued with abuses, thinking that we are weak,” Akol said.