Salva Kiir violates peace deal as he fires defence minister, wife to Riek Machar
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Salva Kiir violates peace deal as he fires defence, and interior ministers among them the wife of Vice President Dr. Riek Machar
Salva Kiir violates peace deal as he fires defence, and interior ministers among them the wife of Vice President Dr. Riek Machar.
In a move that violates the conditions of a peace agreement reached with the head of the opposition party, Riek Machar, Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan, has dismissed his government’s ministries of defense and interior.
The sacked Defence minister is Angelina Teny, who is Machar’s wife, while the Interior minister is Mahmoud Solomon.
According to Reuters, President Kiir transgressed the provisions of the peace accord by giving his party the Defense Ministry while Machar’s party was supposed to hold that position.
Instead, he gave the Interior Ministry to Mr. Machar’s party.
“The switch… is unilateral and a new cycle of violating the revitalized agreement,” Reuters quoted Machar’s spokesperson, Puok Both Baluang, as saying.
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Meanwhile, Pope Francis on Friday urged the leaders of South Sudan to make “a new start” for peace, warning that history would remember them based on their actions, as he began a three-day visit to the violence-wracked country.
“The process of peace and reconciliation requires a new start,” the 86-year-old pontiff said in a speech at the presidential palace in Juba, calling for intensified efforts to end the conflict in the world’s newest nation.
“Future generations will either venerate your names or cancel their memory, based on what you now do,” he told an audience that included President Kiir, Machar, as well as diplomats, religious leaders, and traditional kings.
Since South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in 2011, peace has eluded the impoverished country, with a five-year civil war between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar leaving 380,000 people dead and four million displaced.
“No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence and mutual recriminations about who is responsible for it, no more leaving your people athirst for peace,” Francis said.
The “pilgrimage of peace” is the first-ever papal visit to South Sudan since the predominantly Christian nation gained independence from Muslim-majority Sudan after decades of war.
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