The former Secretary-General of South Sudan’s SPLM Pagan Amum Okiech has welcomed the recent reported progress in talks between Salva Kiir and Riek Machar in Addis Ababa, while commending the role played by IGAD to end the conflict.

In an interview with Radio Tamazuj yesterday, the head of the SPLM ‘Former Detainees’ faction said they condemn the recent violation of the terms and conditions of the ceasefire agreement signed by the two parties to the conflict.

Amum’s ‘Former Detainees’ group, also known as the SPLM-G10, is a non-armed opposition faction exiled from Juba.

The former secretary-general urged the two warring parties to verify who violated the ceasefire agreement so that the situation is contained. He also called upon the verification the monitoring team that the East African regional body is using to check compliance with the ceasefire signed between the two warring factions, so that sanctions can be imposed on whoever violates it.

This comes after the SPLM-IO head of external relations Dhieu Mathok accused the ruling Juba faction of violating the recent agreement shortly after it was signed.

He told Radio Tamazuj that the government forces attacked their positions in Pariang County around oilfields. Meanwhile, South Sudan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting Michael Makuei told Radio Tamazuj that the SPLM-IO forces were planning to attack their positions in Renk County.

Makuei further said they intend return back to the venue of the talks after 14 days to continue with the negotiations, however, he said they were expecting an attack by Riek Machar’s rebels around Renk.

“The attack may take place either today or tomorrow,” he said. ‫                              

Last week, the SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar and his rival Salva Kiir held a meeting under the auspices of the regional bloc IGAD in Ethiopia in order to bring about peace in South Sudan.

Pagan to visit Sudan

Pagan hinted that the Sudanese authorities are planning to invite the SPLM-G10 group for a visit to Khartoum. He said they have not yet received an invitation letter.

He confirmed their readiness to hold a consultative meeting with the Khartoum government on peace and stability in South Sudan.

The former secretary-general said there are no direct communications between them and Khartoum, saying their communications are though the IGAD mediators.

“We heard that the Sudanese government intends to invite us for a visit to Khartoum to discuss peace, but we have not yet received a letter,” he said.