UN urges peace in South Sudan

THE UN Security Council called on South Sudan’s warring parties on Wednesday to publicly reaffirm their commitment to fully implement a peace deal signed over a year ago that calls for a coalition government to be formed on November 12.

The UN’s most powerful body expressed concern that during their recent visit to South Sudan, council members “did not observe substantive progress on implementation of key elements of the peace agreement”.

Under the agreement, opposition leader Riek Machar is to return to the capital Juba on November 12 and once again serve as President Salva Kiir’s deputy, as part of a power-sharing deal intended to pull the country out of a five-year civil war that has killed almost 400000 people and displaced millions.

South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, has been slowly emerging from the civil war, but the fragile peace deal signed in September 2018 so far has been marked by delays and continued fighting in parts of the country.

Machar made an impassioned plea to the Security Council delegation that met with him in Juba on October 20, warning that the ceasefire enjoyed by much of the country for over a year could fail if the unity government was formed on November 12 as scheduled and called for a months-long delay.

He noted the previous power-sharing accord between him and Kiir collapsed in 2016 amid renewed fighting.

Machar’s supporters have said he won’t return to South Sudan for good until adequate security arrangements are in place. The Security Council “strongly encouraged” the East African regional group Igad to continue peace efforts. |