The parties to the South Sudanese peace agreement signed last August have made progress in planning the partial demilitarization of Juba, a requirement of the peace deal, according to interviews with SPLA and SPLA-IO officials.
Col. Angelo Taban Magok, the office manager of the SPLA chief of staff and acting army spokesman, said arrangements are being made for withdrawal of forces from Juba by the end of Febraury.
He told Radio Tamazuj on Monday that logistical reasons have caused the delay in withdrawal of the forces, which was supposed to have been completed last year, according to the original timetable of the August peace deal.
For his part, Maj-Gen. James Koang, a member of the armed opposition on the CTSAMM ceasefire mechanism, said that he was part of an inspection of nine sites for cantonment of government forces that are slated to be withdrawn from Juba.
He said there will be a meeting of a joint security committee Tuesday in Juba to agree on specific locations. Koang cited some logistical difficulties in assembling both government and opposition forces, for example, lack of water points at some of the proposed cantonment sites.
The peace agreement signed in August mandates the partial demilitarization of Juba. Negotiators specified at follow-up talks in November that the number of military troops in Juba and National Security Service personnel will be limited to 4,830 only, including 3,420 from the government side and 1,410 from the SPLM-IO side.
A group of Joint Integrated Police will also deployed in Juba with 1,500 from each side for a total of 3,000 joint police.