Government, holdout opposition groups to resume Rome talks this month – opposition official

NAIROBI – South Sudan’s revitalized unity government and members of holdout opposition consortium, South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA), will this month resume the Rome process in hope convince to the holdout opposition groups to join the revitalized peace agreement, a senior opposition official said.

The Rome peace process which began in 2019 and halted in January following the deadly outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic is mediated by the Community of Sant’Edigo of Italy.

SSOMA which comprises of the South Sudan United Front (SSUF) led by General Paul Malong, National Salvation Front (NAS) led by General Thomas Cirilo and the Real-SPLM led by General Pagan Amum, is not a signatory to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.

The Rome process is aimed on bringing those opposition groups on board to join the revitalized peace agreement.

Speaking to Sudans Post this morning, Dickson Gatluak, a senior member of the Malong-led SSUF said they have been informed that the Rome process will resume in the middle of this months and were in contacts with the Sant’Edigo community in naming their delegation.

“The negotiations in Rome will resume in the middle of this month. Our delegation will be named once the Sant’Edigo community inform us of how the composition of our delegation would look like,” Gatluak told Sudans Post from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Last week, the government in Juba named its delegation which would be led by former minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin along with some other senior government officials.