Nairobi: South Sudan’s former first vice-president and top opposition leader has fled the country, according to a spokesman.
More than a month after the country’s most recent spasm of violence, Riek Machar has arrived in an unnamed “neighbouring country,” according to a Facebook post from his spokesman James Gatdet Dak. A press release from another spokesman, Mabior Garang, called the move an evacuation, and said it followed the “botched attempt to assassinate” Machar.
The split between Machar and President Salva Kiir in 2013 prompted the country’s long descent into civil war, which has left tens of thousands dead. The war divided much of the country along ethnic lines, with Kiir’s predominantly Dinka troops fighting against Machar’s Nuer followers.
In 2015, the two agreed to an internationally brokered peace deal, and earlier this year Machar returned to Juba with about 3,000 of his armed men. But in July the feud between the two sides once again spiralled into a broader conflict, consuming Juba for several days and leaving hundreds dead.
Now, Machar’s evacuation from South Sudan casts further doubt on the resumption of a peace process between the two sides. Without his support for a deal, it’s unlikely that any negotiation will end successfully. Indeed, officials in the country’s Yei region have reported recent clashes between the forces.
The United Nations Security Council voted this month to send 4,000 additional peacekeepers to South Sudan in recognition of the deteriorating situation, but so far peacekeepers have been able to do little to prevent the country from sliding back to war.
“The over-focus on a new peacekeeping mandate at the expense of political developments in the country reflects international disunity and a lack of political strategy,” said the International Crisis Group in a report on Tuesday.
During the fighting in July, Machar fled the capital, not disclosing his location. Weeks later, Kiir formally replaced him as first vice-president with Taban Deng GAI, a former Machar ally. That appointment has created challenges for the international community, including the United Nations, who have been careful in meeting with GAI not to validate Kiir’s dismissal of Machar.
