South Sudan defence minister mediating between SPLM-N factions: sources

December 8, 2018 (JUBA/KHARTOUM) – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit formed a committee headed by Defence Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk to reunite the two rival factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

A high-ranking source close to the file told Sudan Tribune that Kiir tasked Juuk with the file of the SPLM-N following his pledge to President Omer al-Bashir to facilitate the settlement of the conflict in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

“Juuk has to reunite the Movement and to push it to enter into peace talks with the Sudanese government,” he stressed.

The two rebel leaders are currently in Juba.

The SPLM-N split in April 2017, after a decision by the Nuba Mountains Liberation Council to sack the secretary-general and chief negotiator Yasir Arman. The same organ which backs al-Hilu’s call for self-determination relieved Agar after he refused their decisions.

In October 2017, al-Hilu’s supporters in SPLM-N organized a general conference and elected him as a new chairman of the group and endorsed the agenda of self-determination and fired Agar and Arman from the Movement.

The source which requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue further said that Juuk met with the leaders of the two factions Malik Agar and Abdel Aziz al-Hilu but also with historical members of the group to assess their grievances.

Officials in Juba say that the conflict in the two states that neighbour South Sudan is a national security issue, adding it was a source of tensions and animosity for long-time between the two countries.

They point out that the rebels’ presence in South Sudan and their movement from the landlocked rebel-controlled areas to outside Sudan through the new country can no longer be tolerated because they want peace and to build a stable nation.

South Sudanese Ambassador to Khartoum, Mayan Dot Waal, told a panel discussion on “Sudan’s role in sustaining peace in South Sudan” held in the Sudanese capital on Saturday that Juba is working to mediate between the Sudanese government and the armed movements fighting in Two Areas and Darfur.

Mayan added that negotiations currently underway in Juba to unify the SPLM-N factions in preparation for bringing peace to the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

“Soon you will hear good news,” he stressed.

(ST)