Juba/Nairobi, March 11, 2015 (SSNA) — The government of the South Sudan has called on IGAD to move future peace negotiations out of Ethiopia, claiming that the peace process in the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa, have been sabotaged by countries unfriendly to Juba.
It is unclear as to why Juba wants Khartoum to be barred from any future involvement in peace talks.
However, South Sudan’s Deputy Ambassador to Kenya, James P. Morgan, claimed in an interview with Kenyan-based Nation Newspaper that South Sudanese rebels are being trained, armed, and controlled by Khartoum. The diplomat also calls for its expulsion from the East African regional bloc, IGAD.
“The next round of peace talks should be out of Ethiopia and Sudan should be excluded from being a mediator, since it controls, trains and arms the rebels,” James Morgan told the Nation Newspaper in Nairobi.
Reports leaked from Juba suggest that South Sudanese President Salva kiir is not happy with how Kenyan government treats South Sudan’s Former Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar.
The Nation Newspaper further reported that Kiir bluntly told the East African Newspaper two weeks ago that Uhuru Kenyatta’s government “would mess up” the East African region if it does not stop accommodating South Sudanese rebel leader.
“We believe that President Kenyatta should not bring himself to support Riek Machar, but of course he has been accommodating the former detainees and Riek Machar receives goodwill when he goes to Nairobi,” Kiir reportedly told the newspaper.
Deputy Ambassador Morgan further asserted that Kenya is the right country to host South Sudan’s peace talks becuase the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed there [Kenya].