South Sudan rebels vows participation in revitalization forum
December 15, 2017 (JUBA) – The deputy leader of South Sudan’s main rebel movement (SPLM-In Opposition)led by Riek Machar said his group would participate in the revitalization forum in order to end the four-year war, build peace and pave for stability in the country.
Henry Dilah Odwar told Sudan Tribune on Friday that his group was going to participate in the revitalization forum without preconditions because they want the war to stop so that peace and stability return to the country as soon as possible.
“We are going to participate in the revitalization forum with clear minds, open hearts and with the focus on how best and soonest the conflict can be stopped. This is our message to the people of South Sudan, to the region and the international community”, said Odwar.
“The government, particularly President Salva Kiir should reciprocate and participate in good faith in the revitalization forum. There should be reservations like he did before. The letter he sent to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, who is the chairman of the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), should not be the starting point for reservations. It should come out clearly and demonstrate his willingness to stop this war so that peace returns to the country,” he adds.
The deputy chairman of the movement also called for the release his leader from what he described a forced detention in South Africa so that he could participate in the process.
“The release of my chairman, Dr Riek Machar is very important. He is detention in South Africa as you know and this has no legal basis. It is illegal and this is the reason we as the leadership are calling on the international community to call on those behind this act to stop it and let him move freely,” he said.
The second top opposition figure further described his boss as a man of peace and reconciliation in South Sudan.
“Our chairman, Dr Machar is a peace loving person. He is not what people think he is. He is seeking for a lasting solution to the root causes of the current war. If people had accepted working together with him before and in accordance with the provisions of the peace agreement, the country would have been in total peace now.”
“Actually, reconciliation and attracting foreign investments as well as reforming the security sector and restructuring it in a way that reflects the diversity of our country would have been the key drivers of the reform agenda we were envisaging as outlined in the peace agreement,”.
He further regretted that political development in the country took the path of war and destruction in the new nation.
“Instead of working with him and the leadership of the movement, they decided to assassinate him, they wanted to kill him”, Odwar said.
(ST)