South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has called on his former vice-president and rebel leader, Riek Machar, to return home, saying he would guarantee his safety and protection.
The information was reported by the website of Radio Tamazuj, based in the Netherlands.
“I asked you to bring Riek Machar back to Juba, bring him to Juba and I will guarantee his safety, and I will protect him with the national army.If you do not believe me, the RPF (Regional Protection Force) The RPF will take over the security of Riek Machar in Juba. ”
“No one will believe that I would ask for Riek’s return, but I ask him to come back because Riek is a citizen of South Sudan … What we do is called forgiveness … Riek is a citizen from South Sudan and he will come back. ”
Machar fled South Sudan in July 2016 after fierce clashes between his forces and troops allied with President Salva Kiir.
In the past, Kiir and several other South Sudanese officials have ruled out Machar’s return, saying he would revive tensions and fighting in the war-torn country.
The South Sudanese leader finally succumbed to pressure from the regional bloc, the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), the African Union (AU) and Western countries, who called for a resumption of dialogue to end the conflict. civil war that devastates the country.
Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar have been opposing each other since December 2013 when they fought side-by-side for more than 20 years with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to obtain the independence of South Sudan.
Their rivalry has plunged Africa’s youngest state into a war that has already left more than 20,000 dead and 2 million displaced.
