UN supports talks to end Sudan crisis

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Earlier on Monday he expressed “the full support of the United Nations for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development mediation process” to end the current South Sudan conflict. The United Nations Security Council has expressed unqualified support for the East African mediation efforts in South Sudan led by Kenya and Ethiopia. PHOTO/FILE 

In Summary

• The UN Secretary-General urged the South Sudan government to free political prisoners to facilitate talks with rebels.
• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier on Monday expressed “the full support of the United Nations for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development mediation process.”
• UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous said it is hoped that all peacekeeping reinforcements will be on the ground within one to three weeks.

By PATRICK MAYOYO
More by this Author

The United Nations Security Council has expressed unqualified support for the East African mediation efforts in South Sudan led by Kenya and Ethiopia.

Following a meeting on what the council president termed “a very, very dire situation” Tuesday, member-states said they welcomed “the continued and essential engagement of Igad [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] to push for immediate dialogue among South Sudan’s leaders”.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier on Monday expressed “the full support of the United Nations for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development mediation process.”

The UN Secretary-General urged the South Sudan government to free political prisoners to facilitate talks with rebels.

He added that the Security Council was holding a crisis meeting on latest efforts to reinforce UN peacekeepers in the world’s newest country.

“It is very, very dire situation,” Council President, Gérard Araud of France, told reporters after the meeting.

Mr Ban’s Special Representative, Hilde Johnson, briefed the 15-member body by video link from Juba on the latest developments in the fighting, the mediation efforts and the steps by humanitarian agencies to bring aid to those in need.

The fighting in South Sudan, which only gained independence in 2011 after seceding from Sudan, erupted on December 15 when President Salva Kiir said soldiers loyal to former deputy president Riek Machar, dismissed in July, launched an attempted coup.

Mr Kiir belongs to the Dinka ethnic group and Mr. Machar to the Lou Nuer.

The conflict has been increasingly marked by reports of ethnically targeted violence.

Thousands of people are estimated to have died in the violence and some 180,000 others have been driven from their homes, with up to 75,000 of them seeking refuge at UN camps.

The UN peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has been authorised by the Council to almost double its armed strength to nearly 14,000 in an effort to protect civilians.

“It’s a situation that is really tragic,” Mr Araud said.

“It’s impossible to assess the number of casualties, but it’s really pretty high.”

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous said it is hoped that all peacekeeping reinforcements will be on the ground within one to three weeks.