Costello Garang, VP Hussein meet Machar over peace implementation

JUBA – South Sudan opposition leader Dr. Costello Garang Ring Lual and Vice-President Hussein Abdelbaggi have both met the country’s First Vice President and chairman of the main armed opposition group SPLM-IO Dr. Riek Machar Teny to discuss the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

In a statement on Thursday, Machar’s office said the meeting between Garang who is the leader of the South Sudan Patriotic Movement (SSPM), a member of the opposition consortium South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), discussed the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018.

“On Wednesday – 16th June 2021, His Excellency the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon received and met with the Vice President for Services Cluster, H.E. Hussein Abdelbaggi Akol and Dr. Costello Garang Ring Lual, Leader of South Sudan Patriotic Movement (SSPM), who paid him a courtesy call in his office,” the statement by Machar’s office reads in part.

“The meeting discussed issues pertaining to the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS),” the statement seen by Sudans Post added.

Speaking to the media following the meeting, Vice-President Hussein who is representing the South Sudan Opposition Alliance at the collegial presidency said “the meeting focused on the challenges facing the implementation of the agreement, namely the security arrangements.”

He further said they “discussed measures for accelerating the graduation of the Unified Organized Forces.”