Opposition soldiers defect to government as AU mediators arrive to try save peace deal

Record ID: 1987852

  • Title: Opposition soldiers defect to government as AU mediators arrive to try save peace deal
  • Date: 2nd April 2025
  • Summary: JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN (APRIL 2, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SPLM - IO'S DEFECTED GENERAL, GABRIEL BOL ANUER, DURING THE ANNOUNCEMENT CEREMONY SPLM-IO SOLDIERS WHO ARE DEFECTING, STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPLA - IO'S DEFECTED GENERAL, GABRIEL BOL ANUER, SAYING: "I, Brigadier General Gabriel Bol Anuer, serving as the commander for mobilization and organization in SPLA-IO (no
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: conflict deal defecting kiir machar peace riek salva soldiers south splm-ig splm-io sudan
  • Location: JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN AND NAIROBI, KENYA
  • City: JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN AND NAIROBI, KENYA
  • Country: South Sudan
  • Topics: Africa,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001366502042025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In South Sudan's capital, Juba, African Union mediators, including former Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and former Kenyan judge Effie Owuor, arrived for peace talks on Wednesday (April 2) with aims to prevent a potential civil war following the house arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar, whom President Salva Kiir's government accuses of inciting rebellion.
    The ongoing tension has been heightened by recent skirmishes in the Upper Nile state between the military and the White Army militia, previously allied with Machar during the 2013-18 war.
    The visit from the AU delegation, which Machar's SPLM-IO party welcomed, follows the AU's Peace and Security Council's call for Machar's immediate release, asserting that the current developments jeopardize the 2018 peace treaty.
    Kiir's maneuvers are seen as an attempt to consolidate his power amid internal political discontent and the spillover of the war in neighboring Sudan. Meanwhile dozens of SPLM-IO soldiers handed themselves over to the government, declaring that they will not join Kiir's forces in another ceremony welcoming the defected soldiers.
    (Production: Samir Bol, Jefferson Kahinju, Mukelwa Hlatshwayo)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register