Taban Deng Gai, SPLM-IO Chief Negotiator in a 2014 press conference in Addis Ababa

The peace agreement may collapse due to a disagreement with the government on the cantonment sites in Equatoria and the Bahr al-Ghazal regions, the SPLM in Opposition has warned.

The leader of the advance team in Juba, Taban Deng Gai, says they have forces in the two regions, including the former Western Equatoria State.

But the government has been saying that these forces, which occasionally attack town centers, are criminals.

At a news conference on Monday, Mr Taban said the government should acknowledge these forces belong to the SPLM in Opposition.

“War is all over the country. It is a civil war; it is in Equatoria; it is in Bahr el-Ghazal,” he said. “We did not negotiate only on Upper Nile. Every South Sudanese is covered by this agreement.”

The Minister of Information, Michael Makuei Lueth, or the office of the president could not respond to this threat immediately.

However, after a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday, Mr Makuei said the SPLM in Opposition did not claim having forces in these areas during the peace talks in Addis Ababa.

“So the Government…is warning anybody who was not in combat by then to refrain from that, because we will not treat him as the an SPLM/A-IO, but as a criminal who is causing havoc, insecurity to the people of South Sudan,” Mr Makuei stated.

Meanwhile, Mr Taban has appealed to the government to transport the first batch of its security forces to Juba.

The forces are required in the capital before the return of Dr Riek Machar, who would work with President Salva Kiir to form a transitional government.

Troika says it would not transport the forces with heavy weapons.

The opposition also says its 23 generals who were expected in Juba today failed to arrive in the capital due to what they call coordination problems between Juba and Malakal.