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WAU - 28 Feb 2019

Opposition groups not attending regional dialogue in Wau

Opposition groups have skipped the regional dialogue process in South Sudan’s Bahr al Ghazal region, a national dialogue official said.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, head of the national dialogue’s information committee, Alfred Taban said the SPLM-IO faction led by Riek Machar, South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) and SPLM Former Detainees did not attend the regional dialogue conference in Wau town.

"They had promised to come but they failed to come to Wau,” he said.

It was not immediately clear why the opposition groups failed to attend the regional dialogue conference which started in the town of Wau on 25 February.

However, Taban said the regional dialogue process in Wau town is going on well. “After this regional dialogue concludes on Friday, we will move to Upper Nile,” he said.

Last month, the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) promised to join the national dialogue process after consultations.

In December 2016, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir launched the national dialogue initiative that seeks to reconcile and unite the East African nation torn apart by more than five years of civil war.