The spokesperson for the South Sudan government says that former vice president Riek Machar has fled to Uror County in Jonglei State where he is raising a huge force of armed civilians.

Michael Makuei, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, said this at a press conference today in the presence of Vice President James Wani Igga. His claim could not be substantiated by independent sources. 

Since the outbreak of the conflict on December 15 the ousted vice president was declared a wanted man, and government officials made conflicting assertions as his whereabouts, with various sightings reported in the areas of Terekeka, Bor and Bentiu.

Uror, to the northeast of the state capital Bor, lies on a likely route of escape for the SPLA 8^th Division defectors led by Peter Gadet who were driven from Bor just days ago. 

“They have regrouped. Riek Machar ran to Uror area where he has mobilized his tribesmen using his tribal affiliation. Now he is trying to turn the battle into a tribal conflict,” said Makuei.

“The conflict is not tribal, it is political, but because Riek Machar lost the political battle he decided to tribalize it. And for that matter he has mobilized a group of over 25,000 youth from Lou and Gaweir counties. These youth are now moving towards Bor area,” he elaborated.

The two mentioned groups, Lou and Gaweir, are sub-divisions of the Nuer tribe, which contributed fighters to the 1991 attack led by Machar on Bor. They are not in fact names of counties.

Makuei’s remarks were echoed by the army spokesman who said the Nuer militia are preparing to make a second attack on Bor town. He referred to them as the ‘white army,’ a designation which refers to the white ash they put on their skin to protect them from insects.

“In Jonglei, Riek Machar has been mobilizing the so-called White Army, the Lou Nuer youth, and has been moving with them toward Bor with the intention of launching a second attack on Bor,” army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told VOA news agency on Saturday.

Riek Machar himself spoke by satellite phone to the BBC yesterday and was asked where he was. He declined to answer, saying only that he was in the bush.

Photo: A map of Jonglei with county lines as well as approximate territories of several tribal groups. Pink shows Lou Nuer, green Jikany Nuer, yellow Murlei, blue Dinka  (International Crisis Group)