The SPLM/A-In Opposition rebel group on Monday signed minutes of the permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangements workshop that were signed by the South Sudanese government and SPLM Former Detainees in September, a rebel official said.
SPLM-IO deputy chief negotiator at the peace talks Dhieu Mathok confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that they signed the agreement. “We have signed in the morning, and the thematic committee are still discussing these issues until now,” he said yesterday.
He further said they agreed on security arrangements for the transitional period and a permanent ceasefire, besides the formation of a mechanism to monitor implementation of the ceasefire and identify positions of the two forces in order to separate between forces of the two sides.
The document signed yesterday elaborate on the terms of the August 2015, which left some details unaddressed, for example, the number of troops allowed to remain in Juba.
Dhieu pointed out that the new document stipulates that the size of the Presidential Guard will be 1000 troops and 300 bodyguards for the first vice president. He added the agreement provides that military forces should be relocated 25 kilometres outside the capital Juba.
He noted that the size of troops that will protect military facilities and other vital institutions in South Sudan will be 5,000 forces. “We see that there should be an equal deployment of troops in Juba, we suggest that the National Security Service be withdrawn from Juba except the battalion of the joint forces,” he added.
The rebel official demanded that the troops that will protect government institutions should be shared by the two sides. “So all these issues are being discussed, I hope we will agree with the government on this matter so that we go to the next phase in Juba and the formation of the institutions that will implement the agreement,” he said.
Meanwhile, the IGAD Chief mediator of the South Sudan peace process, Ambassador Seyoum Mesfin, said in his remarks to reporters after the signing of the agreement on Monday that the agreement represents a breakthrough for the implementation of the peace agreement and the transitional arrangements.
He confirmed the commitment of the parties to the conflict in South Sudan, saying the government and the opposition are committed to implementing the agreement and resolving all the problems that may arise during the implementation of the agreement through dialogue and discussion.