05/02/2025
South Sudanese rebels led by Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual have approved a peace deal with Juba that was signed on Sunday in Port Sudan, the Sudanese army’s wartime capital.
Sudan’s military government has been instrumental in brokering the talks between South Sudan’s two warring parties.
Yahya Mohammed Othman, a senior diplomat at the Sudanese Embassy in Juba, told us on Tuesday that the rebel group SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction, led by Gen. Simon Gatwech, had signed a key document aimed at ending the war on Sunday.
“The efforts of Sudan have succeeded in bringing together the Government of South Sudan and the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction under the leadership of Gen. Simon Gatwech to reach a peace settlement. Both sides have agreed on a document that will ensure that Gen. Simon Gatwech joins the peace process and the transitional government,” Mohammed said.
“The mediation process through the Sudanese government started in the past period. Last week, a lot of progress was made, and a high-level delegation of the South Sudan authorities, led by the Director General of the Internal Security Bureau, Gen. Akec Tong, traveled to Port Sudan to put the final touches on the agreement with Gen. Gatwech,” he added.
“The agreement was signed in Port Sudan on Sunday, 3 February, in the presence of Sudanese government representatives led by Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadal, Director of the General Intelligence Service.”
According to the Sudanese diplomat, an advance team from the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction will travel to Juba in preparation for the return of Gen. Simon Gatwech.
“Gen. Simon Gatwech’s return to Juba is just a matter of time. The actual steps have already started to ensure that there is peace in South Sudan,” he explained.