SPLA-Nasir

The SPLA-Nasir was a splinter faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group that fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Originally created as an attempt by the Nuer tribe to replace SPLA leader John Garang in August 1991, it gradually became coopted by the government. The break away of Riek Machar from SPLM/A resulted in Nuer ethnic group massacring Garang's ethnic Dinka from Bor in the Bor massacre in 1991. This split resulted in the 1994 National Convention of New Sudan in Chukudum.

The splinter group gets its name from the Nasir Declaration, the document written by the group prior their secession.

Creation

The Second Sudanese Civil War had begun in 1983 as a response to the status of the underdeveloped South Sudan in relation to the administrative and economic center of Khartoum. The southern rebel groups quickly became dominated by the Sudan People's Liberation Army under John Garang, an ethnic Dinka. However, by the end of the 1980s there was increasing discontent with the lack of any mechanisms to highlight issues within the Movement and seek redress. Widely voiced concerns around this time included that Garang had tied the SPLA too closely with the government of President Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia in exchange for Ethiopian support and that too many soldiers from Upper Nile and Bahr al-Ghazal had been transferred to be under Garang's direct command along the Equatoria fronts.

The initiative for removing Garang came from Lam Akol, a senior SPLA commander in Upper Nile. Other commanders with whom he initially spoke suggested that he bring in Riek Machar, a well-liked senior commander whose base in Nasir gave him easy access across the Ethiopian border to Gambela and the SPLA rear bases where Lam and Riek could gain political support. By early 1991, the Nuer in Gambela and Upper Nile were strongly behind the idea of a change in leadership. In contrast, most non-Nuer felt that, while administrative reform was needed, Garang did not need to be replaced.

By late 1990, the Mengistu regime was clearly crumbling in the face of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front rebellion. Refusing to abandon his ties to Mengistu, Garang intensified military efforts to take Juba, the largest town in the south. The conspirators realized that while the fall of Mengistu would weaken Garang, he would be strengthened immensely if he took Juba.

Coup announcement

Mengistu's overthrow in May 1991 caused a number of shifts. With the shifting of forces towards the Western Equatoria offensive and the beginning of the rains, commanders in Upper Nile felt dangerously exposed. At the same time, the Nasir faction noted that Western support for Garang had fallen due to his alliance with the socialist Mengistu; the United States was the only country to respond favorably to the Nasir commanders' call for a separate South, which they interpreted as a sign of support. As thousands of refugees were returned from Ethiopia, the Nasir faction established contact with government forces beginning in July 1991 to arrange for relief supplies through government lines. By May, negotiations had led the government to agree to support the Nasir group against Garang. However, support for an attempt to remove Garang fell among other SPLA commanders, who felt that a coup attempt would further weaken the movement.

The Nasir group first announced that they were overthrowing Garang, via the SPLA radio network, on 28 August 1991; this has subsequently been known as the Nasir Declaration. BBC
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