South Sudan Rebel Leader Threatens to Withdraw from Nairobi Mediation After Alleged Assassination Attempts
South Sudan rebel leader General Stephen Buay Rolnyang on Monday, May 20, threatened to pull out from the high-level mediation for South Sudan taking place in Nairobi, citing an alleged assassination attempt on his life.
Rolnyang, who heads the South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A), claimed that there had been two attempts on his life within a single week.
Local South Sudanese media reported that General Rolnyang wrote to General Lazaros Sumbeiywo, detailing these assassination attempts.
President William Ruto, who chairs the high-level mediation team, had appointed Sumbeiywo as the chief mediator to facilitate peace between the South Sudanese government and the hold-out groups.
In response to the alleged assassination attempt, Rolnyang announced that he would recall his team back to South Sudan.
He alleges that associates of the Juba government had sent assassins to Nairobi to track and kill him.
Rolnyang stated, “The Juba security agents used Kenyan operatives wearing dark glasses. They came to the hotel and hid near the hotel toilets in the evening, holding pictures which likely included mine,” noting that this incident occurred on May 16.
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“I spotted them, returned to my room, and immediately alerted the security,” he added.
The rebel leader claims that he reported the incident, but his complaints were ignored.
He further stated that on Sunday, one of the assassins from Juba visited him and confessed due to their familial connection.
Rolnyang disclosed that the only reason he wasn’t killed was because he had married into the family of the security agent sent to eliminate him.
He now fears that President Salva Kiir’s administration is not sincere about the peace negotiations.
“I, therefore, request that the SSPM/A/SSUNA team withdraw from the talks and be immediately evacuated from Nairobi back to where we came from,” he conveyed to Lazaros Sumbeiywo.
South Sudan Rebel Leader Threatens to Withdraw from Nairobi Mediation After Alleged Assassination Attempts