Authorities arrest armed leader in South Sudan

A source in South Sudan government welcomed the move by authorities to arrest a leader of an armed opposition. The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that the step comes within the positive peaceful atmosphere following the signed agreement between the two countries in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The source told Arabstoday that such steps are important to guarantee and demonstrate good will toward the other side and pointed out that the South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit made several calls to opposition to sit on the table for negotiations and resolve conflict through dialogue. The latest agreement between Khartoum and Juba stipulated that each side is committed to lend support to opposition groups, sheltering them, or providing any form of assistance to them. Security forces had launched a raid Sunday evening on a house in one of the neighbourhoods of the Sudanese capital, in the region of Al-Fetihab. General James Kai, a leader of the southern separatist faction was arrested alongside four colonels, and a brigadier-general. An amount of arms, cannons, advanced communication devices and 4-wheel drive cars were found as Kai’s forces surrendered without resistance and handed their weapons without any injuries of losses. The Om Dorman commander, General Ahmed Imam al-Tohami said that the operation was completed quietly. A source in Khartoum thought it likely that the step comes within the government’s implementation of the agreement with South Sudan considering the fact that James Kai resided in this several-storey house in a neighbourhood of Khartoum where it was known to many that a leader of the south opposition lived there. Commenting on the reports, journalist Fadl al-Karim Salama told Arabstoday that Khartoum has already set out to implement its agreement with Juba mandating joint cooperation and the end of sheltering armed opposition. In exchange, he said, the Sudan government expects a similar reaction from the South Sudan government that shelters a number of the Darfur armed groups and separatist leaders in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. The journalist hinted that the South Sudan demonstrated willingness within the Addis Ababa talks for complete cooperation with the Sudanese government in all issues agreed on including security issues.