South Sudan rebels plan 2nd Pagak conference

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) plans to hold a second conference in Pagak in Upper Nile State to discuss ways to end the crisis in South Sudan after the unsuccessful close of peace talks with the government in early March, according to a rebel official.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) plans to hold a second conference in Pagak in Upper Nile State to discuss ways to end the crisis in South Sudan after the unsuccessful close of peace talks with the government in early March, according to a rebel official.

Pouk Both Pouk, head of information at the SPLM-IO office in Nairobi said the event is planned for this month in Pagak, which is located near the Ethiopian border. Top leaders of the movement, the movement’s negotiators and military commanders will meet at the conference, he told Radio Tamazuj yesterday.

He said they will discuss the reasons for the failure of the previous round of talks as well as tactics for the next rounds in order to end the crisis in South Sudan. “The conference will be a consultative leadership conference about the current situation, especially about the failure of the search for peace under the IGAD, to agree about the strategy of the movement,” Pouk said.

In another development, the Commissioner of Renk County Lual Chol Deng dismissed reports indicating the presence of SPLM-IO rebel forces in agricultural areas of his county, saying they did not monitor any movements of rebels in the area.

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