A top South Sudanese rebel general said he has voiced support for the peace process in the world’s youngest nation after meeting a team from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on the revitalization process in Khartoum on Sunday.

“I was asked whether I want peace or not. I said I support peace in South Sudan,” Peter Gatdet, who heads a group calling itself South Sudan United Movement, told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon.

He pointed out that his meeting with representatives of the East Africa’s security and trading bloc focused on issues pertaining to peace and stability in South Sudan. He added that the meeting was led by Sudan’s foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour and IGAD special envoy to South Sudan Ismail Wais.

Gatdet, a leading rebel commander on both a U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list and a U.N. blacklist for his role in the unrest, claimed that they are defending the people of South Sudan.

The general, formerly with ex-first vice president Riek Machar-led rebels, said the people of South Sudan should unite their rank for the sake of peace in the country.

“The people of South Sudan do not have any problem. You know the problem was caused by the SPLM party, so we are still supporting the people of South Sudan,” he said.

Gatdet urged the international community to intervene and stop the ongoing civil war in the country.