Addis Ababa, August 14, 2014 (SSNA) — The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) will hold a summit on South Sudan later this week in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The meeting is expected to discuss challenges surrounding the ongoing peace talks.
All IGAD member States are anticipated to attend the conference on Sunday.
However, South Sudanese rebels are not happy about the arrangement and launched a protest against what they described as ‘lack of inclusion’, warning that such a practice could cause or bring an unwanted attention into a much-needed peace.
James Gatdet Dak, the Spokesperson for the Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in opposition, released a statement saying that the SPLM-in opposition is concerned about what appears to be an omission plan, adding that they [Members of the SPLM-O] want to participate in the upcoming forum so that they can tell their side of the story.
“The leadership of SPLM/SPLA [in opposition] reiterates the need to participate in IGAD Summits which discuss the situation in South Sudan. It is unfortunate that IGAD passes resolutions in favour of one party because SPLM/SPLA is not provided with an opportunity to tell our side of the story”, Mr. Dak said in the statement.
Dak also wonders as to why they have not receive any response from the IGAD regarding their request which he said was formally sent to the regional body, IGAD.
“As I write this press release SPLM/SPLA leadership has not received any official communication from IGAD about the expected Summit on Sunday despite the fact that a request was earlier made to the regional body to consider our participation”, he added.
The Official Spokesperson for the Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement urges the IGAD to allow the SPLM-in opposition to be part of the meeting so that they can have “an informed decision on the situation in South Sudan”.
Peace talks between South Sudan’s warring factions have been continuing in Ethiopia with little or no success.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, at least one million South Sudanese have fled their homes, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled to the neighboring countries, according to the recent United Nations (UN) estimates.