Africa

July 30, 2016 (JUBA) - The South Sudanese government has agreed to dispatch a high level delegation, led by its first vice president, Taban Deng Gai to the United Nations headquarters in New York as part of efforts to rally global community support.

Head of the rebel delegation, Taban Deng Gai, attends the opening ceremony of South Sudan's negotiation in Addis Ababa, January 4, 2014. (Photo Reuters/Tiksa Negeri)

“The objective of this mission is to mobilize the international support for implementation of the peace agreement and explain to the leaders of Intergovernmental authorities on development (IGAD) member countries why there were changes within the SPLM-IO leadership,” vice president, James Wani Igga told reporters Friday.

“This is a very important mission,” added the vice president.

Gai, who succeeded the armed opposition (SPLM-IO) chairman Riek Machar, was sworn-in early this week, a move the former rebel leader described as being “illegal”.

"President Salva Kiir wants the country's first vice-president to explain to the world the recent political changes in nation," Igga told reporters in the capital, Juba.

The South Sudanese leader, he said, told the armed opposition leaders in the capital, Juba it was their role to make the region understand why Machar was replaced.

“Taban and some members of the team which will select by the President to go to the neighboring countries, including Khartoum as number one, so that we put clearly to them the situation,” explained Igga.

The team will reportedly also tour neighboring countries to advocate for regional support for the peace agreement.

Igga further said President Kiir agreed to accelerate discussions on how to improve security in the country, revive the economy and repatriate internally displaced persons.

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July 30, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese authorities have released on bail an editor they detained for weeks after he wrote an article said to be critical of he country's leaders.

Alfred Taban (Time-UA Photo)

Alfred Taban, the Juba Monitor's managing editor, had accused President Salva Kiir and his then deputy Riek Machar of failing to cooperate in the implementation of peace agreement, prompting his immediate arrest and detention.

Taban, however, said Saturday that he was granted bail to allow him to continue taking his medication as directed by his personal doctor.

This was after he was detained for a week without charge. He was charged under Article 75 and 76 of Penal Code 2008 for writing a false story and insulting the president.

Amnesty International, in a statement, said detaining Taban over his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression makes him a prisoner of conscience.

“We urge you to support our call for the immediate and unconditional release of Alfred Taban”, partly reads the organisation's statement, also extended to Sudan Tribune.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had also called for the immediate release of Taban.

The editor's arrest came weeks after John Gatluak Manguet Nhial, a journalist who coordinated and reported for Radio Naath FM in Leer, was killed with complete impunity in Juba's Terrain Hotel on 11 July, probably because he hails from the Nuer ethnic group.

South Sudan is ranked 140 out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index, thus falling 26 places since the start of the conflict in Africa's newest nation.

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July 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki will meet with the opposition Sudan Call forces during the next week of August, said the National Umma Party (NUP).

Leaders and delegates of the Sudan Call forces pose in a collective picture at the end of their meeting outside Paris on November 13 2015 (ST Photo)

The head of NUP political bureau Mohamed Mahdi Hassan Thursday told Sudan Tribune the AUHIP Executive Director Abdel Gader Mohamed (Abdul) informed the Sudan Call groups that Mbeki would meet them in the second week of August without giving the exact date.

"The meeting will discuss the demands of the opposition and its reservations over the road map," Hassan said, adding that they will decide to sign it or not based on the outcome of the meeting.

Abdul met the Sudan call forces in Paris on 21 July where they gave him a letter to Mbeki expressing their readiness to sign the Roadmap Agreement after a meeting to discuss their demands for additional confidence building measures and inclusive process.

The opposition groups said Mbeki reassured them in a letter he had sent on 23 June where he said that Addis Ababa meeting - proposed in the roadmap - with the Sudanese government dialogue body is in fact the national dialogue preparatory meeting, and all the Sudan Call factions can attend it.

Observers point the Sudan Call forces are now divided over the negotiations with the government as some say that the ruling National Congress Party would not accept to implement a peace agreement they may reach, or the outcome of the dialogue process.

Some parties of the internal opposition groups refused to take part in Paris meeting while others attended. Those who boycotted are not expected to take part in the upcoming meeting.

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