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S. Sudan welcomes Machar's soldiers in DR Congo to return to Juba

Xinhua, October 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The 750 South Sudanese soldiers loyal to sacked former First Vice President Riek Machar, who are facing expulsion in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), are welcome to return to Juba for integration, a senior official says.

The Congolese government on Tuesday asked the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo to move the soldiers out of the country within a week.

In an interview with Xinhua Thursday, South Sudan's Deputy Minister of Information Paul Akol Kordit said: "The Congolese government has taken a very encouraging decision to expel the followers of Machar from its soil."

The soldiers crossed into DR Congo and were then housed by the UN mission on humanitarian grounds, following renewed fighting between Machar's forces and troops led by President Salva Kiir in July.

Kordit called for regional countries to support South Sudan's transitional unity government, which was formed in April under a peace deal signed between Kiir and Machar last year.

Machar, who was the first vice president of the unity government, was replaced by Taban Deng Gai, his former chief peace negotiator, after the July fighting.

Kordit said the soldiers were welcome to return to Juba to be integrated into government troops.

"If they are SPLA-IO (Machar's force), then their commander-in-chief Deng (Gai) is in Juba and they are welcome to return to Juba and be integrated into the army," Kordit said.

South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 after President Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup. Machar denied the accusation but then mobilized the SPLA-IO force. Tens of thousands have since been killed and more than two million displaced.

Machar had a brief stay in DR Congo with UN help after the July fighting, and is now in Sudan's capital, Khartoum. Endit