S. Sudan president threatens to order army to pursue rebels

March 25, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese president Salva Kiir said he will no longer tolerate rebels carrying out attacks on government positions, threatening to order his troops to pursue rebel forces despite the risk of international sanctions.

The president was speaking at a national youth convention in Juba organised on Wednesday by the ministry of youth, culture and sports during which he emphasized that he had told the regional leaders that he had enough of their advices and would not tolerate more rebel attacks.

“In my last talk with the IGAD leaders I told them that enough is enough. I told them I have been respecting you all this time and this time should Riek Machar come to attack my forces again; I will strike them and pursue them into their areas. And we will not stop. If sanctions will be imposed on South Sudan simply because we are fighting for our self-defense, we will do it,” Kiir told youth on Wednesday.

He reiterated that peace talks collapsed because former vice-president turned rebel leader Riek Machar had shown intransigence and continued to make impossible demands to accept.

The president said it was now up to the opposition leader to accept what his government had offered him in the negotiation or continue to remain as rebel leader until when “he will come on his own, like he did in 2002”.

But Machar’s opposition faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) said it was the government that was responsible for the collapse of the talks and the ongoing dry season offensive against rebel positions in the oil-rich states of Unity and Upper Nile.

“Salva Kiir’s negative actions speak volume. For instance, his recent speeches in Juba are a clear indicative of someone who is not for peace in this country,” Machar’s spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, said when reached on Wednesday.

He also dismissed claims that the rebel group was violating the ceasefire deals, saying it was the government that is on dry season offensive to gain more territories leaving the opposition forces with no other option but to exercise their right to self defence.

He said his leadership was committed to peaceful resolution of the conflict by reaching a meaningful peace agreement.

He denied that his leadership was responsible for the recent failure of the talks, adding that their proposals on governance, security, power and wealth sharing as well as accountability and reconciliation were for the good of the country and its citizens.

He also said the recent move by parliament to extend the lifespan of president Kiir’s term in office together with the lawmakers for three more years indicated that the government was not foreseeing a peace agreement by 8 July, adding this will instill more intransigence on the part of the government.

(ST)