A South Sudanese rebel delegation visiting the Ugandan capital Kampala held a closed-door meeting with the Ugandan government yesterday, according to SPLM-IO spokesman Yohanis Musa Pouk.
The Kampala visit comes after a failed bid to meet the Ugandan president in July. A delegation of the SPLM-IO visiting Uganda at that time were not received at the airport by Ugandan diplomats.
This time the delegation led by SPLM-IO’s deputy chairman Alfred Lado Gore has succeeded to meet with Ugandan officials, according to Pouk.
He said the purpose of the purpose of the visit led by deputy chairman of SPLM-IO Alfred Lado Gore was to discuss the opposition group’s demand for the withdrawal of Uganda’s troops from South Sudanese territory.
Pouk told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that their delegation at the peace talks separately has submitted its proposal on security arrangements. The group has been demanding the withdrawal of the Ugandan army (UPDF) as a prerequisite for signing an implementation matrix on the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.
The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed last January but has been repeatedly and flagrantly violated by both parties, according to ceasefire monitors and UN peacekeepers. The deal required the Ugandan army to “progressively withdraw… from the theatre of operations in the Republic of South Sudan.”
Ugandan soldiers remain stationed in Jonglei and Central Equatoria states.
SPLM-IO says that it remains committed to the peace talks in Addis Ababa but blamed the government delegation for withdrawing from the talks this week. The government is demanding bilateral talks with the rebel group without the involvement of other stakeholders.
Pouk urged the government delegation to return back to the talks.
File photo: SPLM-IO negotiators