South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) have approved for SPLM-IO Chairman Riek Machar to come to Juba on Monday.
Machar is due to be sworn in as first vice president in accordance with the terms of a peace deal signed in August last year, which makes SPLM-IO a partner in government.
Lt. Gen. Akol Koor Kuc, Director General of the NSS Internal Security Bureau, wrote to the director of the Juba Airport on Saturday giving “urgent clearance” for two aircraft carrying Machar and his accompany delegation from Ethiopia to Juba.
The letter stated, however, that the two aircraft could not arrive until Monday “due to maintenance of the Juba International Airport on weekends and delay of note verbale from Ethiopian Embassy.”
Akol’s letter was prompted by a request from Ambassador Dhano Obongo, Director-General of Protocol, asking that the security service authorize the arrival of two aircraft for Machar’s delegation.
This development comes after both the government and SPLM-IO accepted a compromise proposal on how many soldiers and weapons Machar may bring with him on arrival.
After the brokering of this compromise, Machar traveled from his Pagak headquarters to Gambella in Ethiopia, where there is an airport from which he is expected to fly on Monday.