Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951) is a South Sudanese politician who has been President of South Sudan since its independence in 2011. Prior to independence, he was President of the Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011. Salva Kiir Mayardit in military uniform In the late 1960s, Kiir joined the Anyanya in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer.In 1983, when Dr John Garang joined an army mutiny he had been sent to put down, Kiir and other Southern leaders joined the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the second civil war. Dr. Garang De Mabior had advanced military knowledge and experience from both the United States and the Sudan. President Kiir was his Deputy. Kiir eventually rose to head the SPLA, the SPLM's military wing when Dr. John Garang was killed in an helicopter crash. Rumours to remove Kiir from his post as SPLA Chief of Staff in 2004 nearly caused the organization to split. South Sudanese politics Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement formally ending the war in January 2005, Dr. John Garang was sworn in as the Vice President of the Republic of Sudan. After the death of Dr. John Garang in a helicopter crash on 30 July 2005, Kiir was chosen to succeed to the post of First Vice President of Sudan and President of Southern Sudan. Before independence, Kiir was popular among the military wing of the SPLA/M for his loyalty to the vision of the SPLA/M throughout the liberation struggle and among those who do not trust the successive governments that have come and gone in the Sudan. Comments by Kiir in October 2009 that the forthcoming independence referendum was a choice between being "a second class in your own country" or "a free person in your independent state" were expected to further strain political tensions. Reports in January 2010 that Kiir would not contest April elections for Sudanese president, but would focus on re-election as president of Southern Sudan were interpreted to mean that the SPLM priority was independence. Kiir was re-elected with 93% of the vote in the 2010 Sudanese election. Although the vote on both the national and sub-national level was criticized by democratic activists and international observers, the overwhelming margin of Kiir's re-election was noted by some media as being "Step One" in the process of secession.[6] Following his re-election, Omar al-Bashir reappointed Kiir as the First Vice President of Sudan in accordance with the interim constitution. Presidency South Sudanese voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence from Sudan in January 2011, with 98.83% of voters reportedly preferring to split from the North.[8] On 9 July 2011, South Sudan became an independent state, with Kiir as its first president. Kiir positioned himself as a reformer, using his inaugural address to call for the South Sudanese people "to forgive, though we shall not forget" perceived injustices at the hands of the northern Sudanese over the preceding decades and announce a general amnesty for South Sudanese groups that had warred against the SPLM in the past. A few weeks later, he publicly addressed members of the military and police to warn them that rape, torture, and other human rights violations carried out by armed personnel would be considered criminal acts and prosecuted aggressively by the Ministry of Justice. His presidency was characterized as a period of reconstruction, with internal and foreign crises, as Heglig Crisis, which caused a border war with Sudan and an internal political crisis, which tried to overthrown him from the presidency. Domestic policy On 18 June 2013, Kiir issued an order lifting the immunity of two ministers in the national government pending investigations into an alleged corruption case in which they appeared to be implicated. He also issued an order suspending Cabinet Affairs Minister Deng Alor Kuol and Finance Minister Kosti Manibe Ngai from their duties during the entire duration of the probe. In July 2013, Kiir sacked his entire cabinet, including his vice president, Riek Machar, ostensibly to reduce the size of government. However, Machar said that it was a step towards dictatorship and that he would challenge Kiir for the presidency.He also dismissed Taban Deng Gai as Governor of Unity State. Foreign policy Kiir with United States President George W. Bush. In mid-October 2011, Kiir announced South Sudan had applied for accession to the East African Community. He declared the EAC to be "at the centre of our hearts" due to its members' support of the South during the Sudanese civil wars. On December 20, 2011, Kiir visited Israel to thank it for its support during the First Sudanese Civil War in 1956–1972,[14] and met with Israeli president Shimon Peres to discuss establishing an embassy in Jerusalem, which would make South Sudan the only country to have one in that city. Heglig crisis and war with Sudan On 26 March 2012, the South Sudanese army attacked the Heglig oilfield, located in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan, triggering the Heglig Crisis. On 27 September, Kiir met Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and signed eight agreements in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which led the way to resume important oil exports and create a six-mile demilitarised zone along their border. The agreements allow for the return of 350,000 barrels of South Sudanese oil to the world market. In addition, the agreements include an understanding on the parameters to follow in regards to demarcating their border, an economic cooperation agreement and a deal to protect each other's citizens. Certain issues remain unsolved and future talks are scheduled to resolve them. On 25 November 2012, South Sudan launched a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against Sudan in the wake of aerial bombings carried out by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in parts of South Sudan's northern Bahr el Ghazal state, killing at least eight people and injuring an equal number. South Sudan treated the attack as a gross violation of the cooperation agreement the two country's leaders signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 27 September. Political Program[edit] In his speech at the 2nd anniversary of South Sudan’s Independence on 9 July 2013 Kiir outlined a broad program of reforms called to rebuild South Sudan after the decades of its independence war against the North. Kiir’s program includes building transportation infrastructure, in particular - alternative routes for oil exports via Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia which will end South’s dependence on the only present route going through the hostile North; putting an end to internal tribal hostilities; drastically improving population’s access to clean water, health care and schooling; modernizing agricultural sector; fighting gender inequality and corruption. Political crisis On the evening of 14 December 2013, a faction of the SPLA caused a political crisis, beginning as a mutiny, in South Sudan. The faction reportedly tried to overthrow Kiir, but his presidency survived and put down an attempted coup d'état. He accused Machar to be directly involved in this attempt, though Machar denied to be implicated in the conflict and blamed President Kiir for playing power politics. On 19 December, Bor was seized by the South Sudan Liberation Army, following fight with governmental forces.