South Sudan: Former top general launches rebel movement

By Munira Abdelmenan Awel

ANKARA (AA) - South Sudan's former army chief General Paul Malong Awan has launched a new rebel movement, he announced Monday.

Malong named his movement South Sudan United Front/Army (SS-UF), saying his movement aimed to "first arrest the carnage that has befell our country and secondly, to steer us towards democracy and development".

He accused President Salva Kiir's government of creating "nepotism, high inflation rate, a ruthless and endless war, high levels of insecurity, zero infrastructure, poor health care, a collapsed economy."

"Salva Kiir's regime has built a country where total impunity is the order of the day and the manta is 'zero-tolerance for rule of law'. Our movement seeks to reverse this" he said.

South Sudan erupted into civil war in 2013, just two years after declaring its independence from the north. The ongoing conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead and created a humanitarian crisis as nearly 4 million people fled their homes.

The U.S Treasury in September blacklisted South Sudan officials including the axed army deputy chief of staff, Malek Reuben Riak, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth, as well as Malong, who was fired by Kiir in May for derailing peace efforts.