South Sudan rebel group meet intelligence chief, urge dialogue

December 4, 2023 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese rebel group has denounced military solutions to the country’s crisis, saying sustainable peace can only be achieved through dialogue.

This followed a meeting on Monday between members of the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A)-Nairobi Declaration and the Director General of South Sudan National Security Service (NSS) General Akol Koor Kuc in Juba.

The group, in a statement, reiterated President Salva Kiir’s commitment to peace.

“We acknowledged and re-affirmed our commitment to the 2020 Amnesty to the hold-out groups and the call for a peaceful co-existence by H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit. On his message for the Christmas and New Year’s Eve, he reiterated that “as a people emerging from the conflict situation, we all need to support peace by shunning violence in all its forms and by choosing peaceful means to address our grievances whenever they arise,” a statement from SSUF/A-Nairobi Declaration reads in part.

The SSUF/A-Nairobi Declaration was formed on January 28, 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya. The group is a break-away faction from SSUF/A led by ex-army chief, Paul Malong Awan.

“It is important to note that from the day we landed at Juba International Airport (JIA), on 12th June 2023, we ceased to be members of South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) and joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) under the leadership of H.E. Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit, the Chairman of SPLM and President of the Republic of South Sudan,” noted a statement signed by former SSUF/A spokesperson, Col. Philip Deng Kuol Nguot.

The group said their break-away was in the interest of peace and national reconciliation.

(ST)