Riek Machar, the former vice president turned rebel leader, reiterated his demand that Juba welcome a 609-person advance team ahead of additional implementation of the peace deal signed in August. 

The leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) said the advance team has sorted out logistics and accommodation and is currently waiting in Pagak for permission to travel to Juba. The SPLM-IO had earlier complained that they could not afford the cost of the travel and lodging and were looking to the international community to provide financial support.

Now Machar is accusing Juba of “showing its lack of commitment to the implementation of the agreement by refusing to receive our advance delegation.” The government had earlier said it was prepared to receive the SPLM-IO representatives, who were originally scheduled to arrive in Juba as early as November.

Machar’s jab at Juba came at the end of a press release marking the second anniversary of the start of the ongoing conflict.

“We are marking this day of remembrance with great sadness for the loss of lives and the suffering caused by this senseless and unjustifiable war,” he wrote. But also said there was “a sense of hope for a better future now that an agreement is signed to finally bring an end to the two-year war.”