NAIROBI: South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has reshuffled the senior leadership in the ruling party, according to an official decree, as the country faces fresh fighting between rival armed factions and widespread speculation about Kiir’s succession plans.
Kiir, 73, promoted sanctioned ally Second Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel as his SPLM party’s deputy chairperson, according to a decree read on the state broadcaster on Tuesday night, weeks after the United Nations said the country was on the brink of civil war.
Seen widely by political analysts as Kiir’s chosen successor, Bol Mel was sanctioned by the United States in 2017 over suspicions his construction company received preferential treatment in the awarding of government contracts.
If Kiir stepped down, Bol Mel’s new role as the SPLM party’s deputy chairperson would make him acting president of the country.
The reshuffle follows months of political uncertainty in which authorities placed Kiir’s longtime rival First Vice President Riek Machar under house arrest, accusing him of trying to stir a rebellion.
Machar’s opposition party denied the charges, and said the move effectively voided a 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war between Kiir’s Dinka forces and Nuer fighters loyal to Machar.
Western countries, including the United States, Britain and Germany closed embassies or cut back operations in South Sudan.
Tuesday night’s ruling party shake-up saw Kiir demote three veterans of South Sudan’s liberation struggle, including former Second Vice President James Wani Igga, according to the decree read on state television on Tuesday night.
South Sudan’s President Kiir promotes sanctioned ally as ruling party deputy
https://arab.news/ycvgw
South Sudan’s President Kiir promotes sanctioned ally as ruling party deputy
- The reshuffle follows months of political uncertainty in which authorities placed Kiir’s longtime rival First Vice President Riek Machar under house arrest
Israeli settlers target wells, disrupt water supply to 19 Palestinian areas near Ramallah
- Settlers broke windows, doors, control panels and cut the cables rendering the wells completely inoperable
- Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian homes and businesses have increased since October 2023
LONDON: Israeli settlers attacked water wells in the Ein Samia area, northeast of Ramallah, overnight, causing a disruption in the water supply for several hours, according to the Jerusalem District Water Department's report on Sunday.
The Palestinian Authority’s water authority reported that settlers targeted wells number two, four, and six in Ein Samia, disrupting their operation from Saturday at 10 p.m. until Sunday at 9 a.m. The attackers broke windows, doors, control panels and cut the cables, rendering the wells completely inoperable.
It warned that attacks on the primary water source jeopardized access to water for over 19 areas in the occupied West Bank, worsening the difficulties faced by residents near Ramallah.
Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian homes and businesses have increased since October 2023.
These incidents include vandalism, arson, shootings, and the destruction of agricultural lands and water sources, often intended to pressure residents into leaving their land. Israeli authorities often provide protection for settlers during attacks, including military deployment to accompany them and suppress local resistance, the Wafa news agency reported.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, along with about 3 million Palestinian residents.
