August 2nd 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – The National Salvation Front (NAS) led by General Thomas Cirilo Swaka has denied reports that it is conducting talks with South Sudan government within a month.
This came after some media houses reported of an expected peace talk between the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardiit and the holdout group quoting a Church cleric.
In a statement issued on Thursday, NAS spokesman, Suba Samuel Manase denied any knowledge of any arrangement in place for talks between his group and the government.
“The leadership of NAS would like to inform the public that NAS is not aware of any planned arrangement for peace talks with Government in Juba, nor did NAS receive any official correspondence of interest from Episcopal Church of South Sudan Internal Province of Central Equatoria State or from H . G the Archbishop for any mediation,” said the statement extended to Nyamilepedia.
“The National Salvation Front ( NAS ) is a member of South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA) which has a clear position on the R-ARCSS, and the root causes of the conflict in the Republic of South Sudan that requires credible and inclusive peace negotiation, so as to attain a just and sustainable peace in the country,” it added.
The statement further revealed that the position on addressing the root causes of conflict in the country had “been shared with the leadership of South Sudan Council of Churches ( SSCC ) early this year in Addis – Ababa, Ethiopia.”
NAS is not a signatory to the revitalized peace agreement signed in September last year by the government and several opposition groups in Addis Ababa.
Just August 2018, Cirilo’s group along with few opposition groups withdrew from the talks protesting what they said was control of the talks by the government.
They also rejected a then proposed peace deal on the grounds that it should address the root causes of the ongoing conflict and that it shouldn’t give President Salva Kiir the lion’s share of power.
