Allegations that the Central Intelligence Agency are conducting secret operations in South Sudan reported by The Dawn newspaper have been rejected by the United States government.
“Any suggestion that the United States has done so or will do so is false, baseless, and not in the interest of peace in South Sudan” said Mark Toner, State Department Deputy Spokesperson.
The Dawn newspaper is owned by the South Sudan National Security Service.
The U.S. Embassy in Juba said that the article, which has no byline, is a fabrication. Attempts to correct the record were declined by the editor of the newspaper, the embassy said.
The allegations first appeared on July 17th, and the documents contain a number of grammatical errors. One alleged document circulated on social media is signed by the “OSS” a former American intelligence organization that was disbanded in 1945 and was last used to fight Nazi’s in World War II.
“Why would someone circulate a document like that, because I know your listeners understand it is a ridiculous and untrue assertion. I think someone is trying to hurt the historic and deep relationship between the United States and South Sudan” said US Ambassador to South Sudan Molly Phee in an interview on Eye Radio after the alleged documents first came to surface.
The American embassy remains open for consular appointments.
“We also remain committed to helping the people of South Sudan by pressing both sides to bring about a peaceful resolution to this crisis and by maintaining our humanitarian assistance program” Toner said.