Egypt backs reunion of South Sudan's SPLM
Wednesday July 26 2017
President Salva Kiir (left) and his nemesis Dr Riek Machar continue to trade blame on who is responsible for the collapse of the agreement and the escalating inter-ethnic fighting. PHOTO | FILE
Egypt will back efforts to reunite warring factions of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), led by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni.
Egyptian ambassador to South Sudan, Mr Ayman Elgamal said Cairo favoured the reunion of SPLM in order to achieve peace and stability in the war-torn country.
“Egypt will support the reunion of the SPLM and the revitalisation of the South Sudan Peace Agreement to end the war and the suffering of the people in South Sudan,” he said.
The party’s factions include SPLM-In Government, led by President Salva Kiir, SPLM-In Opposition, whose leader is former deputy president Riek Machar, and Former Detainees.
Mr Elgamal made the remarks while attending the National Day of the Arab Republic of Egypt held in Juba on Tuesday.
He also called for the full deployment of the 4,000-strong UN-backed Regional Protection Force to secure Juba.
Civil strife broke out in December 2013, two years after the country seceded from Sudan.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government, but was thwarted after fresh fighting broke out in July 2016 in Juba.
New university
The Egyptian envoy also announced plans to open an Alexandria University campus in South Sudan's northwest town of Tonj in Bahr el Gazal as part of efforts to support the country's education sector.