News Article by PANA posted on March 06, 2002 at 00:18:19: EST (-5 GMT)
Rebels warn of possible factional war in southern Sudan
Nairobi - 05/03/2002
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - There was a declaration made in
Nairobi,
Kenya late last year of a merger between the John
Garang-led
Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) and his
counterpart
Riek Machar of the Sudanese Peoples Democratic Front (SPDF).
That declaration could be put to the test following claims by one
of the
warring factions that the pact has become an instrument of
violence against
the people of Eastern and Central Upper Nile
region who are outside the
agreement.
A statement released in Nairobi Tuesday by a Southern Sudan
Liberation
Movement (SSLM) official, William Kuol Chuol, said the
merger, hailed as a
final front against the Khartoum government
of President Omar el Bashir,
could instead rally the SPLA and
SPDF against the SSLMA controlled regions of
southern Sudan.
"The SSLM/A is not a competitor but a complementary to SPLM/A in
the war
of liberation. However, to our surprise, the SSLM/A has
been informed by a
very reliable source that SPLA forces, with
tanks and military vehicles
carrying troops, are heading to
attack Akobo coming from Eastern Equatoria,"
Chuol said in the
statement.
Also, Chuol said, SPLA forces have left Dajok area to attack
Maiwut in
Latjor Sate.
"In Akobo and Kaikueny, there are no enemy forces but the SSLA,
which is
supposed to be a friendly force to SPLA".
Chuol wondered why the SPLA forces were not attacking government
forces in
Juba, Torit, Upper Nile, Bor, Pibor, Nasir, Renk,
Maban, Malakal and Kapoeta
in Eastern Equatoria and move forward
with the "liberation war" instead of
destroying their brothers
and sisters in Akobo, Kaikueny and Maiwut areas.
SSLM blamed their woes on the Nuer people who joined the SPLM/A
recently
and whom they said are not friendly to their cause, and
therefore will not
hesitate to agitate for the resumption of
inter-factional fighting in the
region.
"SPLM believes strongly in heavy centralisation of power.
(But)
centralisation has failed to bring about reconciliation and
unity
among the people of south Sudan.
"South Sudan is a multi-cultural society and such differences
must be
taken into serious consideration in the process of
creating a viable
society," Chuol said.
According to Chuol, SSLM sees no cause for the leadership of
SPLM/A to
re-start inter-factional warfare.
"The southern Sudanese must of necessity uphold the spirit of
Wunlit
(merger)," he said.
Chuol appealed to friends of southern Sudan to intervene to
prevent the
resurgence of inter-factional warfare in the south.
"Let us work for reconciliation, peace and unity through the
south Sudan
Democratic Forum to promote dialogue, building peace,
and restoring civil
society among peoples of south Sudan," he
added.
The rebel-held southern Sudan has waged war against the Islamic
Khartoum
government since 1983, resulting into the loss of two
million lives.