Trump, West Palm Beach, USA – 02 Mar 2018 (Photo credit: Andrew Harnik/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9447254j)
February 15th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – The United States’ Trump Administration is ready to fund South Sudan’s peace process if and only if the government and fellow signatories of the revitalized agreement find a room to include the holdout opposition groups.
The government of President Salva Kiir Mayardiit in September last year signed a revitalized version of a 2015 peace agreement to end the five-year old conflict with opposition groups in Addis Ababa.
The agreement was signed under regional and international pressure. Negotiators had only August 5th 2018 to sign a preliminary peace deal or face international isolation.
Shortly before the signing, opposition groups including the National Salvation Front (NAS) led by Gen. Thomas Cirilo and the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) led by Dr. Hakim Dario walked out of the talks and did not sign the final agreement on September 12th citing lack of clear solution for the issue of the number of the states and their borders.
Speaking to the Nyamilepedia on Friday, a source in Juba said US ambassador to Juba told the NPTC Chairman that the US will not find the agreement unless holdout opposition groups are accommodated to ensure that there is no return to the civil war.
“They said they will not fund the agreement is Cirilo and the rest of his colleagues who are still fighting the government are not included in the peace implementation,” the official told the Nyamilepedia on Friday on the condition of Anonymity.
“To us, this is a non-starter because we believe the government have done all it can to make sure that Cirilo come back again to join the people of South Sudan in the peace implementation but he unfortunately seems not to be in the mood, what can we do? Is this our fault?” he asked.
The official who insisted that the United States should instead reach out to Cirilo said “the Trump administration should give peace a chance in South Sudan.”
