South Sudan rebel leader declines national dialogue consultations

July 21, 2017 (JUBA)-The leader of the National Salvation Front (NAS) has turned down a request to carry out consultation with the members of national dialogue committee secretariat launched by the President Salva Kiir.

Gen. Thomas Cirilo Swaka said the government was using the dialogue to consolidate power while committing genocide against the people with impunity.

“We would like to re-assert our view that the same government that is spearheading the National Dialogue is also intensifying killings, rapes, and destroying villages and communities all over South Sudan, despite Kiir’s unilateral ceasefire,” reads the letter dated July 18, 2017.

The armed opposition leader, according to the statement, said it was the conviction of his movement that a genuine peace could only be possible after this war is ended through a negotiated peace agreement

He further called for a new peace process as the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in the Republic of South Sudan is dead for all practical purpose.

“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the national dialogue is not a credible solution but a tactical manoeuvre that enable the government to continue to remain in power while committing genocide against the people of South Sudan with impunity,” the statement adds.

Swaka was reacting to the letter from the co-chair of the national dialogue committee Angelo Beda seeking when he could meet his team for consultation.

Beda had hoped a meeting takes place on July 20, 2017.

The rebel leader who is also known as Cirillo, resigned as deputy chief of staff of South Sudan’s army (SPLA) in February 2017, citing rights abuses in a war that has split the country along ethnic lines since 2013.

(ST)