South Sudan Rebel, Oloni ‘May Take Up Arms Again’

_86067260_84870408

A major rebel leader in South Sudan has told the BBC he may have to take up arms again, despite the signing of a peace agreement six weeks ago. Gen Johnson Oloni said the government was undermining the deal with attacks on civilians and a plan to re-draw state boundaries in the country.

Tens of thousands of people have died and millions have been displaced since the civil war began in 2013. South Sudan gained independence from neighbouring Sudan four years ago.Gen Oloni told the BBC the peace deal was unlikely to work.

He said he was incensed at what he saw as the wrongful occupation of his tribe’s land by government forces. He also said he was angered by a plan – announced earlier this month by President Salva Kiir – to turn South Sudan’s 10 states into 28.

Gen Oloni portrayed the move as a naked power-grab, the BBC’s Tim Franks reports. The rebel leader said land appropriations had pushed his tribe to use force in the past and they could do so again.