SPLA-IO military chief renews call for IGAD to allow Machar visit him

KHARTOUM – The military chief of South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, SPLA-IO, General Simon Gatwech Dual, has renewed his call for IGAD, the regional bloc which mediated the revitalized peace agreement, to allow SPLM-IO leader and South Sudan First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny to visit him for consultation on the peace agreement.

In September, Dual wrote to the regional bloc over continued violation of the revitalized peace agreement by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) urging IGAD to allow Machar to go to his military base so that the SPLA-IO commanders are verified on the peace implementation which has largely remained behind.

In a letter addressed to the IGAD on Saturday, Dual reiterated his call for the regional body to allow Machar visit him for briefing on the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement which he said is under threat from continued attack by the SSPDF.

“The military leadership of (SPLA-IO) would remind again the South Sudan guarantors in light of the letter wrote by the (SPLA-IO) Chief of General Staff 1″ LT Gen. SIMON GATWECH DUAL, on 16 Sept/2020, AD requested the release of the Chairman & Commander in Chief (SPLM/SPLA-IO) and the First vice President of the Republic of South Sudan Dr Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, to visit the (SPLA-IO) GHQS in order to briefs the Army for the latest deployments pertaining the implementation of the peace agreement in Juba,” General Dual said in the letter extended to Sudans Post.

“Moreover, it seems as if, the peace guarantors have gotten the lost legs on replying to the messages wrote to them by the leadership.  Therefore, the leadership would remind your excellent offices that the regime is not in the good mood to retains or safeguards the current situation as Gen SALVA KIIR still denying all positive aspects contributing to peace agreement as he has recently denied the graduation of the forces in the training centers which of course, taken a long period of time lasted for (13) months and it shown incapability or a mean to procrastinate the process until our forces would exhausted their energy and possibly may evacuate the training centers, as they think nothing would works and we received also that, the regime has planned to start a proxy operations in Eastern Upper Nile region and this would immediately marks the final collapse of the already fragile peace agreement,” Dual added in the letter.

He further wrote: “This is to remind both guarantors and the wider international community including the people of South Sudan that this time, the SPLM/A (IO) has been working hard to allow peace prevails in the country but as a matter of fact, if the regime would still extends its policy of regaining our territories during the peace time, the leadership of the great movement would not accept such intentional belligerences and we must defend our territories and barracks if we are attacked, and I think in this regard, nobody would blame us anymore incase of any extension aggression by the regime.”