After Bentiu, Riek Machar vows to take key oil fields, and Juba

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The leader of South Sudan’s rebels has vowed to attack the capital Juba and target crucial oil fields, warning in an exclusive interview with AFP that the civil war will not end until the country’s president is removed from power.

Former vice president turned rebel chief Riek Machar branded his arch rival, President Salva Kiir a “dictator” and said he saw “no reason for power sharing”.

The comments came as the conflict in the world’s youngest nation enters its fifth month, and amid warnings of looming famine and floundering peace talks.

READ: UNSC warns of famine in South Sudan

“If we are to remove the dictator, Juba is a target, oil fields are a target,” Machar said late Monday in a secret location in Upper Nile state, one of South Sudan’s key oil producing regions.

“We are only resisting a regime that wants to destroy us,” Machar said, adding he still hoped a moribund ceasefire deal signed in Ethiopia in January “will be respected by both parties.”

The conflict in South Sudan has left thousands dead and forced around a million people to flee their homes since fighting broke out on December 15 in the capital Juba, before spreading to other states in the oil-rich nation.

READ: Refugee conditions worsen in the Sudans

The fighting is between soldiers loyal to Kiir against mutinous troops who sided with Machar, who was dismissed as vice-president in 2013. The conflict has also taken on an ethnic dimension, pitting Kiir’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Nuer people.

Seated in a plastic chair in his basic camp — a dozen mud huts on flat grasslands — the 62-year-old Machar said he was willing to hold face-to-face talks with Kiir, but also that he saw little point.

“What would we discuss? You are a discredited leader, you have committed massacres, I hope he accepts that,” Machar said.

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PaanLuel Wël

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PaanLuel Wël is the founder and editor-in-chief of PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd, a news website that covers news, opinions, analysis, history, culture and literature of South Sudan and the world. Founded in July 2011 by PaanLuel Wël to create a platform for free expression and constructive dialogue, the website features articles from various contributors, including columnists, commentators, poets, authors, activists and academics. PaanLuel Wël believes that media can play a vital role in informing, educating and empowering the people to participate in nation-building and social transformation. He also believes that media can foster a culture of dialogue, tolerance and diversity among different communities and groups, and hopes to inspire and mentor the next generation of South Sudanese writers and journalists.

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5 thoughts on “After Bentiu, Riek Machar vows to take key oil fields, and Juba”

To: Dr. Riek Machar Teny, Your vision to achieve power through violent base on ethnic hatred will not only invite massive military engagement but also failure to execute your political ideology. for more details visit full text on http://www.sudantribune.com at comment § analysis’s site from 16th -17th April 2014

This power-hungry Machar is using propaganda to scare public for nothing. Taking Bentiu does not mean it will be easy like that all the time to capture other towns. Try and we see.

Riek is a great hypocrite. He has completely forgotten that he was the first who committed massacres and was shameless returned to the movement after that betrayal in Khartoum. Kiir is more angelic than he does.