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My Facebook post didn’t incite killings in S.Sudan – Machar Spokesman

James gatdet told  Capital FM News that he posted a message on Facebook warning that there was an intention to arrest or harm Machar but after the violence had already started/FILE

James gatdet told Capital FM News that he posted a message on Facebook warning that there was an intention to arrest or harm Machar but after the violence had already started/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 12 – Few hours after South Sudan Ambassador accused Vice President Dr Riek Machar’s Spokesman James Gatdet of inciting the violence that claimed 272 lives in Juba, the spokesman defended himself against the allegations.

He told Capital FM News that he posted a message on Facebook warning that there was an intention to arrest or harm Machar but after the violence had already started.

“What the ambassador said was a lie. I do agree that I posted a message on Facebook but this message was posted after the fighting erupted at the palace,” he explained.

“I did not post it before the fighting erupted as the ambassador said. I posted it on the same day the violence erupted after I spoke to my people on the ground and told me that fighting took place that they had been attacked by the bodyguards of the president, that’s when I posted it.”

He explained that his Facebook post was inspired by concerns that the violence was targeting Machar.

“I suspected that the fighting erupted because there was an intention to harm the first Vice President. It was a pre-plan.”

Earlier Tuesday, South Sudan Ambassador Chol Ajongo alleged that Gatdet informed the army that Machar had been detained at the President’s palace, a message that spurred violence between Machar’s and President Salva Kiir’s army.

According to Ajongo, the information sent by Gatdet was false yet it led to the violence that has been condemned in and out of Africa.

READ: False Facebook post blamed for 272 deaths in S. Sudan

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