IGAD Summit adjourned, government threatens to sue media house

The 29th Extraordinary Summit of IGAD Heads of State and Government which was scheduled to take place on Thursday afternoon in Addis Ababa has been adjourned to Saturday afternoon.

This happened as the government threatened to sue a local website for publishing false information on the president's health. The meeting was to be attended by the two South Sudan principals Salva Kiir and Riek Machar.

Speaking to TCT from Ethiopia last evening, Gideon Beny Mabor said the adjournment came as a surprise after both principals - President Salva Kiir and Opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar - and all stakeholders were in the room happily joking and chatting amongst themselves, only waiting for IGAD heads of states and government to kick off the summit.

“In fact, a great optimism for peace was shown on Thursday, when President Salva Kiir came in the room and greeted each member of the SPLM/A in opposition by shaking hand and start chatting with Dr. Machar and the former detainees happily,” he said.

After waiting for hours for the IGAD leaders who were meeting alone in a different room, the IGAD Executive Secretary Ambassador Mahboub Maalim walked in and apologised for having kept the leaders waiting for hours and he announced the adjournment of the summit to Saturday 31st January, narrated Beny. He added that all stakeholders, including the principals, are not aware of the reason for the adjournment.

“We hope the Saturday summit will bring peace and stability in South Sudan. We also pray that the friends of South Sudan do not have their own stake in our suffering in prolonging such a remarkable meeting that is expected to end the crisis,” said Beny.

Meanwhile, the Office of the President has dismissed media reports that President Kiir fell sick as baseless. The office added that the president was in good health and he is carrying on with his scheduled meetings in Addis Ababa.

Sections of the media, and especially Sudan Tribune website and the Daily Nation in Kenya had reported that IGAD mediators were forced to cancel direct talks between President Kiir and opposition leader Machar after he suffered a nosebleed on Wednesday.

The Presidential press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny briefed press in Juba and said they are considering legal action against the Sudan Tribune for publishing false reports against the president and the government.

“This is not the first time for Sudan tribune to speculate about the health of the president..this time around and given the damage inflicted on the people of South Sudan through the false reports published by Sudan Tribune, we are considering legal action against Sudan Tribune,” he said.

Earlier on, President Kiir met with Machar in a closed-door meeting on Thursday as a continuation of the talks that began on Wednesday. The two principals are expected to present the resolutions of their discussion to the IGAD head of states on Saturday.

Speaking in Juba, Vice President James Wani Igga told media that the meeting between President Kiir and Machar on transitional government structures went on successfully.  

In a related development, Catholic bishops meeting in Juba released a message calling on political leaders to end the fighting. The bishops’ meeting in Juba says the clashes must end before the warring sides talk about positions.

John Ashworth, an advisor for Sudan and South Sudan Council of Churches told the media that leaders are not listening to what the church is saying.

“The problem seems to be that nobody is listening to what the church is saying. So the issue that the bishops are discussing this week is how can we follow up on the statements which have been made. The last statement in September from the Catholic bishops was a very clear demand that the war must stop. You can’t carry on talking about political advantages about posts and positions, while the fighting is still going on,” he said.

(Additional information by Daniel Kuany Majack).