South Sudan: Riek Machar calls on Sudanese general al-Burhan for help
In February 2020, Machar agreed - reluctantly - to return to Juba without his army.
“Unified forces” bringing together government and rebel troops were planned.
But, since then, the unification has not taken place.
(illustrative image) AFP/File
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Faced with growing tensions with President Salva Kiir, his vice-president Riek Machar is trying to obtain help from the East African countries gathered within the Igad bloc and in particular that of the northern neighbour, Sudan.
Khartoum is indeed one of the guarantors of the South Sudanese peace agreement, signed in 2018 after five years of civil war.
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With our correspondent in Juba,
Florence Miettaux
This Saturday, March 26, faced with the "
deterioration of the security situation
", in the words of Mr. Machar, he wrote a letter to the President of the Transitional Council in Sudan, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
He calls for urgent intervention by the guarantors of the peace agreement.
The past week has been marked by rising tensions in South Sudan, with the withdrawal of Riek Machar from the bodies monitoring the security aspects of the peace agreement, and fighting reported in the state of Upper Nile.
It is a call for help tinged with impotence that is launched by Riek Machar to General al-Burhan.
In February 2020, Machar agreed - reluctantly - to return to Juba without his army.
“
Unified forces
” bringing together government and rebel troops were planned.
But since then the unification has not taken place.
Riek Machar asks, in his letter, that the unified forces can finally be created.
The vice-president also denounces the “
systematic attacks
” on his bases by the government army.
According to him, these attacks are multiplying and are "
evidence
" of the deterioration in progress, "
a reason
for serious concern today
", he writes.
“
We urgently request,
continues Machar,
the intervention of Igad and other international partners to convince President Salva Kiir not to plunge this country back into war
”.
The official calls in particular for the demilitarization of the main cities of the country and the cessation of "
attacks
" against the cantonment and training sites of opposition soldiers.
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South Sudan
Riek Machar
Salva Kiir
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
Sudan