South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar has rejected the possibility of becoming the country’s second vice president as proposed by his rival President Salva Kiir.
President Kiir said last week that he could create a second vice president position for Machar but would not create a prime minister position for the rebel leader.
Machar, who leads the armed Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) faction of the nation’s ruling party, refused Kiir’s idea in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA) news program.
The SPLM-IO leader also staked out his position on the involvement of political parties in the peace talks, which have been stalled for almost two months.
“I believe that direct talks between us and the government will yield quicker results and will ensure the peace agreement arrives faster than having others on the roundtable,” he said.
IGAD, the regional bloc mediating the negotiations, has tried to include civil society, religious groups, opposition political parties, and the G-10 former detainees in hopes of ensuring that any settlement comprises the opinions of all South Sudanese citizens, not just the two warring parties.
Machar has opposed the inclusion of these non-armed actors, but said IGAD, not his side, is to blame for delaying the talks.
“Personally, I blame the mediators because at times they would suspend the peace talks without a good reason, particularly, when the chief mediator went to New York, we could have continued the peace talks,” Machar told VOA. “We were saying, we want to have direct talks, but now the mediators are insisting that there would be round table talks with five others; the civil society organizations … and former detainees with the two parties.”
Machar also accused the government of violating the ceasefire by fighting and keeping Ugandan troops in the country. He also denied reports that his forces are buying new weapons.
Read the full report on VOA’s interview with Machar here.
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