South Sudan's opposition group vows to stay in peace deal despite rift with President Kiir

Juba: South Sudan s opposition Sudan People s Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar, said Thursday that...

Juba: South Sudan's opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar, said Thursday that it would not withdraw from the 2018 revitalized peace deal, despite ongoing disagreements with President Salva Kiir over the dismissal of two senior party officials from the government.

The SPLM-IO protested the president's move to fire Alfred Futuyo Karaba, governor of Western Equatoria State, and Yolanda Awel Deng, minister of health, on Monday, claiming it violated the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.

"We are not pulling out from this agreement, which means a lot to our people and to this country," Lam Paul Gabriel, spokesperson for the SPLA-IO, told journalists in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Gabriel said they are looking forward to resolving the stalemate through peaceful dialogue with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement under President Kiir.

Gabriel said that SPLA-IO forces, which came under attack by the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) on Wednesday at the Rii-Rangu cantonment site, Western Equatoria State, retain the right to self-defense.