The opposition in South Sudan has accused the government of attempting to impose “authoritarian control and one-tribe rule” after First Vice President Riek Machar was charged with orchestrating militia attacks and suspended from office.
In a statement issued late Thursday, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) rejected the charges brought against Machar and 20 others, which included murder, treason, and crimes against humanity, over their alleged involvement in attacks carried out by the White Army militia in the northeast of the country in March.
The statement said, “These charges are fabricated to nullify the peace agreement, sideline the Movement and its leader Machar, and entrench full government control.”
Machar’s house arrest since March has fueled international concerns of a renewed outbreak of the devastating civil war that raged between 2013 and 2018 between fighters from the Nuer ethnic group, to which he belongs, and Dinka loyalists to his rival, President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Kiir and Machar served together in a unity government formed under the peace deal that ended the civil war. But their partnership has remained fragile, and occasional violence has flared between their forces.
In recent days, an unexpected alliance has emerged between Machar and the National Salvation Front (NAS), led by General Thomas Cirillo, which rejects the peace agreement.
According to Al Jazeera Net’s correspondent, this alliance has materialized on the ground through military coordination between the two sides, including attacks on government army positions in western regions and on the outskirts of the capital, Juba — raising fears about the durability of the existing peace deal.
Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters
