Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon

' Over 1 000 kilometres to the south-west Salva's rival Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon was hosting a delegation of senior African and European officials at his redoubt near Nasir in Upper Nile State and site of his split from Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) leader John Garang de Mabior in 1991 (AC Vol 46 No 21 Gunmen or soldiers)...

Ethiopia's Mesfin who is the lead mediator in the military and political talks between the South Sudan government and Riek Machar's SPLM in Opposition said the configuration of forces was still under discussion...

The eleven who had all publicly agreed with Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon's claims about Salva's increasingly dictatorial style were detained at the outbreak of fighting in Juba on 15 December (AC Vol 55 No 1 The political stakes on YouTube)...

In fact neither of the warring leaders in the South Sudan conflict – President Salva Kiir Mayardit or his sacked Vice-President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon is keen on IGAD's mediating role especially its plan to send in a stabilisation force though the government has reluctantly accepted it...

This is the first time that President Salva Kiir Mayardit has accepted that the roots of the crisis lie within the SPLM rather than in the claims of a coup attempt by his former Vice-President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon...

However since the government army the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) had previously retaken Malakal and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) had just warned of anti-government forces massed to the south-east it appears the attack came from former Vice-President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon's fighters...

The sacked Secretary General of the governing SPLM Pa'gan Amum Okiech had also distanced the majority of the dissidents from Riek Machar...

While in Addis Ababa for the African Union summit on 29-31 January Museveni personally tried to persuade allies of Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon to switch their support back to President Salva Kiir Mayardit...

Neither those supporting President Salva Kiir Mayardit nor the factions behind his rival ex-­Vice President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon had shown any commitment to ending the fighting before their representatives signed the ceasefire in Addis Ababa on the evening of 23 January...

Over 2 000 Dinka residents are said to have been killed in Bor alone; that toll would match the Bor massacre of 1991 also carried out by Riek Machar's men (AC Vol 53 No 9 A political and military test)...

This fighting was the culmination of months of rising tension symbolised by three SPLM leaders – Riek Machar Teny Pa'gan Amum Okiech and Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior (Rebecca Garang) widow of the SPLM founding leader Colonel John Garang de Mabior – who announced they would run for the SPLM chairmanship next year...

Juba is also fuming at how a member of Riek Machar Teny's negotiating team former Jonglei Deputy Governor Hussein Mar Nyuot managed to travel from Bor to Addis Ababa and blames the UN...

Despite this Kenyatta maintained important back channels to Riek Machar...

Nairobi helped in negotiations to free Riek's son Teny Riek Machar Teny after he had been removed from a British evacuation flight at Juba airport...

' Not the usual suspectsThe complex roots of the crisis are evident from the origins of the top eleven detainees accused by Salva Kiir's government of complicity in Riek Machar's supposed coup plot...

Neither those supporting President Salva Kiir Mayardit nor the factions behind his rival ex-­Vice President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon had shown any commitment to ending the fighting before their representatives signed the ceasefire in Addis Ababa on the evening of 23 January...

Over 2 000 Dinka residents are said to have been killed in Bor alone; that toll would match the Bor massacre of 1991 also carried out by Riek Machar's men (AC Vol 53 No 9 A political and military test)...

This fighting was the culmination of months of rising tension symbolised by three SPLM leaders – Riek Machar Teny Pa'gan Amum Okiech and Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior (Rebecca Garang) widow of the SPLM founding leader Colonel John Garang de Mabior – who announced they would run for the SPLM chairmanship next year...

Juba is also fuming at how a member of Riek Machar Teny's negotiating team former Jonglei Deputy Governor Hussein Mar Nyuot managed to travel from Bor to Addis Ababa and blames the UN...

Despite this Kenyatta maintained important back channels to Riek Machar...

Nairobi helped in negotiations to free Riek's son Teny Riek Machar Teny after he had been removed from a British evacuation flight at Juba airport...

' Not the usual suspectsThe complex roots of the crisis are evident from the origins of the top eleven detainees accused by Salva Kiir's government of complicity in Riek Machar's supposed coup plot...

Meanwhile pressure was mounting in Addis on President Salva Kiir Mayardit to release the remaining four detainees linked to dissident ex-Vice-President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon...

The four oppositionists still detained in Juba – Pa'gan Amum Oyai Deng Majak d'Agot Ezekiel Lol – are unlikely to join the talks due in Addis Ababa on 7 February between President Salva Kiir Mayardit's government and dissidents led by ex-vice-president Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon...

It ended on 28 January and divided the cases into three: evidence of intent to overthrow the government by force (the four in gaol and still fighting in Upper Nile Riek Machar Taban Deng and Hussein Mar Nyuot); intent to overthrow the government but insufficient evidence (seven in Kenya including Deng Alor Kosti Manibe and John Luk); and innocent (Khamis Abdel Latif Chawuol a police officer and former Interior Ministry Security Advisor named only after the investigation)...