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South Sudan withdraws partially from peace process

South Sudan withdraws partially from peace process

Major party in South Sudan’s coalition government announced on Tuesday that it had suspended its participation in a key part of a 2018 deal to end violence and improve relations between Riek Machar, its leader, and President Salva Kir amid clashes.

The agreement ended a 5-year war between forces loyal both to Kiir, and Machar who is now the First Vice-President of the SPLM-IO. The two men do have a fractious relation, and it has gotten worse in recent weeks after clashes occurred in the east of the country.

Earlier this week, security forces arrested several SPLM-IO leaders, including the Petroleum Minister and the Deputy Head of the Army, after the White Army ethnic group forced troops to retreat from the town Nasir, near the Ethiopian Border.

The government accuses the SPLM-IO party of having links to the White Army. This army is mainly made up of armed Nuer youths, who fought with Machar's forces during the 2013-2018 war in opposition to the predominantly ethnic Dinka troops loyalists Kiir. The party denies these allegations.

Oyet Nathaniel Pierino said that the SPLM-IO would not take part in any security arrangements related to the peace process unless the detained officials are released.

Pierino stated in a press release that "the ongoing political witch hunts continue to undermine the very existence and essence of (the peace deal)."

Anita Kiki Gbeho is the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan. She says that fighting in Upper Nile State around Nasir has caused 50,000 people to flee since late February. Of these, 10,000 have fled into Ethiopia.

RAMPANT HATE SPEAK

Nicholas Haysom, the United Nations chief of peacekeeping in South Sudan, expressed concern that the country is "on the verge of civil war".

In a speech before the African Union, he stated that "hate speech has become commonplace due to the spread of mis/disinformation." This raises concerns about the possibility that the conflict may take on an ethnic aspect.

Analysts claim that the war in the neighbouring Sudan is also responsible for the collapse of the peace process. South Sudan's oil revenue has been suspended, regional tensions have escalated, and weapons are flooding across the border.

Already, we can see the first stages of the spillover fighting from the Sudan War in the Upper Nile. Alan Boswell, from the International Crisis Group, said that it will be hard to stop tensions spreading to Juba (the capital). (Reporting and writing by Nairobi Newsroom, edited by Ammu Kanampilly and Angus MacSwan.

(source: Reuters)