Juba digs in heels over UN intervention

BARELY a month after the arrival of the first batch of a Regional Protection Force (RPF) in Juba, to supplement UN forces already in South Sudan, President Salva Kiir is taking the force to task.

And he has threatened to stop all planes operated by the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (UNmiss) from taking to the skies after a dispute over security clearance.

Kiir yesterday warned that Juba would reconsider its decision on the recent deployment of the protection force mandated by the UN Security Council, the Sudan Tribune reported.

“They have come and the way they have started is already becoming a matter of concern. They want to deploy at the airport. They also want whatever they bring into the country not to be checked,” warned the South Sudanese leader.

The Security Council approved the deployment of a 4 000-strong protection force to secure Juba at the behest of the east African regional block (Igad) after clashes erupted between the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the opposition SPLA-IO.

However, Juba vacillated between warning that the deployed force would be looked at as a legitimate military target and finally accepting its presence under intense regional and international pressure.

The first company of Rwandan soldiers recently arrived as part of the RPF, joining a Nepalese company, and more than 100 Bangladeshi engineers already in the area.

However, Kiir has now accused the UN of “behaving as a parallel government” over the forces.

“If the UN doesn’t want to co-operate, we have the right to cancel the deployment of the regional forces,” Kiir said at a security meeting in Juba on Sunday.

Unmiss was also accused of failing to renew its flight permit which Kiir said would prevent flights over the war-torn country.

“I told Kuol Manyang, the defence minister, that if they didn’t apply for renewal of permits, no flight. Simple. So they did not fly on Friday and again today and now they are making noise.”