Transitional arrangements between government and opposition forces would affect the police, military, presidential guards and national security services, a senior South Sudanese official said in Juba today.

Speaking at a press conference, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the peace process to resolve the country’s conflict had entered a second chapter focused on a permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangements.

“The (transitional security arrangement) agreement said that a joint integrated police would be made up of 3,000 police, 1,500 from the government and 1,500 from the opposition, whose task would be to take over the security of the national capital Juba,” Mr. Makuei said.

He said an integrated police force of 800 personnel would oversee security in the three hardest hit state capitals of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity. The integrated police would be made up of 400 police personnel from each of the two parties.

The parties also resolved to form a 1,250-strong presidential guard force, comprising 650 regular and 250 ceremonial guards from the government and 350 from the opposition.

The information minister said the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement-in-Opposition (SPLA/M-iO) would now deploy a total of 1,410 security forces in and outside Juba, and the government 3,420 as part of the unified command for guard installations, barracks and warehouses.

Mr. Makuei said he hoped this phase of peace agreement implementation would mark the end of talks in Addis Ababa. “From now onwards the talks will be transferred to South Sudan. There will be no more talks but implementation.”

He said an office of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission would be launched on 18 November in Juba by its chairperson to mark the beginning of actual implementation of the peace process.

The parties had agreed to mobilization of resources through joint appeal to the Inter-governmental Authority on Development, the African Union, Troika, European Union and Arab League as well as regional and international friends.

“The implementation of the peace agreement means money,” said Mr. Makuei. “We don’t have money, and the rebels don’t have money (either).

“If we are to assemble and canton the SPLA-IO forces,” he said, “we need to establish the cantonment areas. For you to establish those areas, you need to provide them facilities, including food, non-food and non-lethal items.”

The national Ministry of Finance was preparing a detailed budget to help implementation of the peace agreement, but the parties had also agreed to launch a joint donor conference to mobilize resources, Mr. Makuei said.