 In November 1999 Biel, Gadet and other Nuer commanders formed the Upper Nile Provisional United Military Command Council (UMCC) to coordinate anti-government forces in the state.They were not satisfied with Riek Machar for cooperating with the government despite the fact that the government had not honored the Khartoum peace agreement and had not handed over control of the oil fields to the Nuer militias.Riek Machar resigned from the government at the end of the year and in February 2000 formed the Sudan People's Defense Forces/Democratic Front (SPDF).