NAS maintains Rome as venue for peace talks with government

February 1, 2024 (NAIROBI) – The opposition National Salvation Front (NAS) has rejected proposals that the pre-mediation meeting between the Non-Signatory South Sudan Opposition Group (NSSOG) and South Sudan government be held in Nairobi, Kenya.

The hold-out group’s statement came months after South Sudan President Salva Kiir wrote to his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto requesting him to mediate and host talks between NSSOG and the South Sudanese government in the Kenyan capital.

“On 13^th January 2024, the Chairman and Commander in Chief of NAS, Gen. Thomas Cirillo Swaka received a letter dated 5^th January 2024 from H.E Dr. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya. In his letter, H.E President Ruto offered to partner with the Community of Sant’ Egidio in mediating and hosting the peace talks in Kenya. The NSSOG did not receive any formal notification from President Salva Kiir Mayardit of his intention to change the mediation and the venue,” partly reads NAS’s statement.

The group said after a series of meeting with other NSSOG members, they concluded that President Kiir never consulted anyone prior to making decisions on change of venue.

In addition, it added, no substantive agenda was agreed upon while the opposition groups were unsure if Nairobi was a safe environment for frank and credible discussions.

“The National Salvation Front, the National Democratic Movement-Patriotic Front and the South Sudan Democratic Movement are of the view that the proposed pre-mediation meeting be convened in Rome, Italy,” further noted the statement.

Meanwhile NAS reiterated that it is committed to achieving sustainable peace in South Sudan by peaceful resolution of the root causes of the conflict through an inclusive dialogue in genuine and credible negotiations.

NAS is among several groups that did not join the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS). The hold-out group previously said it remains committed to the cessation of hostilities deal signed in 2017.

(ST)