JUBA - 7 Aug 2014

SPLM-Juba claim negotiations resume in Addis Ababa

A senior official of South Sudan’s SPLM-Juba faction claimed on Thursday that peace negotiations resumed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa after two days of boycott by the SPLM-IO group. This claim was denied by another source involved in the talks.

Radio Miraya reported today, “Peace talks between the government and the SPLM/A in the opposition have resumed today (Thursday) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.” The radio station cited an official of the SPLM-Juba faction, Ateny Wek Ateny, who is also spokesman to President Salva Kiir.

SPLM-Juba is one of two main warring parties in South Sudan’s conflict since December 2013, the other being SPLM-IO. The faction controls the cabinet, the presidency, a remnant of the SPLA, and several governorships.

Ateny Wek stated, “They have convened this morning. They are behind closed doors negotiating today. And yet the other multi-stakeholders are actually attending that round of peace talks.”

However, a member of one of the other ‘stakeholders,’ former justice minister John Luk of the SPLM-Leaders (Former Detainees) faction, denied the report.

John Luk said that there were no negotiations on Thursday, just as there have been none on the previous two days, ever since SPLM-IO announced objections to the ‘roundtable’ format of the talks.

SPLM-IO boycotted the talks on Tuesday and Wednesday, saying they did not want to negotiate with the other stakeholders, but only with the one of the other parties, the one loyal to Salva Kiir.

Nonetheless, Ateny Wek expressed optimism about the talks, saying, “The president has instructed them that he wanted the team to come back with peace agreement in their hands.”