South Sudan VP urges Murle leaders to play active role in disarmament

March 19, 2012 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s Vice President, Riek Machar, on Monday summoned members of parliament and leaders of the Murle community in Juba and urged them to play active role in the disarmament process in Pibor county of Jonglei state.

This came one day after the Vice President visited the counties of Lou-Nuer community of Akobo and Uror where he also urged them to surrender their guns to the organized forces that were about to begin the disarmament exercise in the Lou-Nuer areas.

The Lou-Nuer chiefs that met with the Vice President said they were ready to hand over weapons but however asked the government to make sure that their rival Murle community is equally disarmed in order for them not to take advantage of the situation.

While the disarmament in the Murle areas began successfully inside Pibor town, there were however reports that a group of Murle youth clashed with the South Sudan army outside Pibor town on Sunday after resisting to disarm and shot at the army, killing one of the soldiers instantly.

Machar in his meeting with the Murle leaders in Juba on Monday condemned the violent incident and urged the Murle MPs to accompany him to Pibor county on Tuesday and persuade the youth in their respective constituencies to disarm peacefully and avoid confrontations with the army.

The leaders commended the initiative and expressed their readiness to accompany the Vice President who will visit a number of Murle Payams and Bumas [districts and sub-districts] beginning on Tuesday.

(ST)