S.Sudan Deploys First Unified Forces After Peace Deal

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)
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S.Sudan Deploys First Unified Forces After Peace Deal

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)

Hundreds of former rebels and government troops in South Sudan's unified forces were deployed at a long-overdue ceremony on Wednesday, marking progress for the country's lumbering peace process.

The world's newest nation has struggled to find its footing since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters.

The unification of forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, was a key condition of the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year conflict in which nearly 400,000 people died, according to AFP.

Tens of thousands of former fighters were integrated into the country's army in August last year but none have been deployed until now, with the delays fuelling frustration in the international community.

The first battalion comprising nearly 1,000 soldiers will be deployed to Malakal in northern Upper Nile State, which has received huge numbers of South Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.

At the ceremony on the outskirts of the capital Juba, Santino Wol, the country's chief of defence forces, urged the battalion to remain united, saying: "Be a soldier and don't get involved in politics."

The unity government led by Kiir and Machar has largely failed to meet key provisions of the peace agreement, including drafting a constitution and electoral legislation ahead of polls now set for next year.

Kiir has vowed to hold the country's first ever presidential ballot by December 2024, but UN envoy Nicholas Haysom warned in August that the authorities needed to create a conducive environment to ensure "peaceful, inclusive and credible elections".

"We are going for elections and you are to make sure that peace prevails so that elections can proceed peacefully," Information Minister Michael Makuei told the soldiers on Wednesday.

One of the poorest countries on the planet despite large oil reserves, South Sudan has spent almost half of its life as a nation at war and continues to be roiled by outbreaks of politically motivated ethnic violence.



Iranian-German Sharmahd Died before His Execution, Iran Judiciary Says

In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)
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Iranian-German Sharmahd Died before His Execution, Iran Judiciary Says

In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)

Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd died before his execution, which was announced by Tehran late last month, Iran's judiciary said on Tuesday, according to state media.

State media initially reported the execution of Sharmahd on Oct. 28, following his sentencing to death by Iran's judiciary in 2023 for carrying out "terrorist attacks".

"Jamshid Sharmahd died before the execution of his death sentence," judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said, without providing additional information.

His daughter Gazelle Sharmahd, on X, had demanded proof of his execution and called for the immediate return of her father.

Sharmahd's death exacerbated a diplomatic rift between Tehran and Berlin, with the German authorities closing Iranian consulates across Germany.

Iranian authorities said Sharmahd had headed a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing and planning other attacks in the country.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Iran of playing politics with hostages and of trying to use Germany's support for Israel in the widening Middle East conflict to justify Sharmahd's killing.