Juba (EFE).- South Sudan’s government accused Vice President and opposition leader Riek Machar on Friday of conspiracy, as the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) called for his immediate release amid a crisis that continues to escalate. No side wants to break the fragile 2018 peace deal.
On Wednesday night, Machar was arrested on the orders of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir after the government accused him of having since early March with politicians, commanders, and bases of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO).
Despite the accusations, the government said there is no risk of a return to war: “The peace agreement is still in place and will be implemented (…) The peace agreement has not collapsed and will not collapse under any circumstances,” South Sudanese Information Minister Michael Makuei said Friday at the first official press conference since the start of the crisis.
A peace call
Stephen Par Kuol, South Sudan’s peace minister and a leading opposition figure, called on Friday in Juba for the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement signatories to abide by the permanent ceasefire and the 2017 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement “as this is the only way for the country to achieve sustainable peace.”
“We reaffirm our firm commitment to the peace process through the Revitalised Peace Agreement,” said Stephen Par Kuol, calling on the population to remain calm.
The call comes a day after the official spokesman for the SPLM-IO and Minister of Water and Irrigation, Pal Mai Deng, said Machar’s arrest marked the end of the A in South Sudan and left the country “on the brink of civil war.”
With Friday’s statement, the armed opposition has toned down its rhetoric but reiterated its demand for Marchar’s release and other detained opposition officials who will be investigated and tried for inciting their ers to revolt to prevent the elections, Information Minister Michael Makuei announced earlier in the day.
“We call for the immediate release of our leader Dr Riek Machar, and all our detained ,” he said, urging all parties to the peace agreement to resume dialogue to de-escalate the situation in the country.
The party also called on the African Union and the United Nations to and facilitate dialogue to resolve the current crisis.
South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in 2011, was followed by a five-year war between 2013 and 2018 that killed some 400,000 people, which ended with a peace deal between Salva Kiir and Machar, including a power-sharing pact between the government and the opposition whose key provisions were never implemented. EFE
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