South Sudan President Salva Kiir. The United States on January 24, 2018
called for an international arms embargo to be imposed on South Sudan
following the failure of the latest ceasefire aimed at ending the
four-year war. PHOTO | AFP
The United States on Wednesday called for an international arms
embargo to be imposed on South Sudan following the failure of the latest
ceasefire aimed at ending the four-year war.
US
Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that President Salva
Kiir's government was "increasingly proving itself to be an unfit
partner" in efforts to restore peace and urged African leaders to hold
it accountable.
"The time has come to acknowledge the
hard reality - that the leaders of South Sudan are not just failing
their people, they are betraying them," Haley told a council meeting on
South Sudan.
Food crisis
South
Sudan's food crisis is worsening with 5.1 million people severely food
insecure of whom 1.5 million are just one step away from famine, UN aid
official Ursula Mueller told the council.
Some 20,000
South Sudanese are already living "in famine conditions" and the hunger
crisis is expected to spread to several new locations at the start of
the lean season in March, she said.
Hours after the
December 24 ceasefire went into effect, South Sudan's government and
main rebel group accused each other of launching attacks, dealing a blow
to a new regional peace effort.
The Security Council
has thrown its weight behind the new peace drive led by the regional
Igad grouping, warning that this effort represented a "last chance" for
peace.
'Actually help'
Describing
an arms embargo as long overdue, Haley said the ban on weaponry would
"actually help the people of South Sudan — to slow the violence, slow
the flow of arms and ammunitions and protect innocent lives."
She
called on African leaders gathered for a summit in Ethiopia at the
weekend to "consider seriously the accountability measure it pledged for
those who refuse to pursue peace."
Haley singled out
leaders in Uganda and Kenya to put pressure on Kiir, saying "they are
key players in the success of a true peace process."
With
another round of peace talks planned for next month, regional envoy and
former Botswana president Festus Mogae also called for "consequences"
for those who refuse to turn away from the battlefield.
"We
cannot stand by as South Sudanese leaders sign an agreement one day and
authorise or allow its violation with impunity the next," Mogae told
the council by video-conference from Juba.
South Sudan descended into war in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
South Sudan descended into war in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
The
violence has killed tens of thousands of people and driven nearly four
million South Sudanese from their homes, including one million who have
crossed borders.
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