But South Sudan has been in a state of civil war since December of 2013, when tensions between rival ethnic cadres within the ruling Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement escalated into open conflict, and resulted in former vice president-turned rebel leader Riek Machar’s defection from the government.
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The blunt words underlined growing exasperation among African and global powers over a string of broken ceasefires and accords in the world’s newest nation. Washington has threatened sanctions if no deal is sealed.
According to mediators at the talks, Kiir did not sign the agreement and asked for 15 days to consult with his constituencies. “We call on the government to sign the agreement within the 15-day period it requested for consultations”, State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters at his daily briefing. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni was earlier seen storming out of the discussions in Ethiopia.
“We can only continue to mediate, to encourage every side to realise that their country is superior to every one of them individually”.
Machar signed the deal on Monday but Kiir only initialled it.
“The secretary-general is deeply pained by the horrendous suffering of South Sudanese civilians and calls on all belligerents to immediately cease all hostilities”, Ban’s press office said in a statement.
Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, who confirmed the signing of the agreement by the armed opposition leader and urged the government to show commitment to end the war by signing the peace agreement.
The United States and Britain pushed for UN sanctions Tuesday to punish South Sudan’s government over its failure to sign a peace deal as the Security Council weighed its next move to help end the almost two-year war.
The government rejected those assertions, instead accusing the rebel forces of starting the clashes.
President Salva Kiir said he had been “compelled” to join the talks alongside rebel leaders and regional presidents…
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Powerful rebel general Peter Gadet and other key commanders last week accused Machar of seeking power for himself, and said they would not recognise any deal agreed. It remains unclear how the situation will play out between Juba and the worldwide community in ending the war. It is unclear why the Kiir government decided to come out so strongly against a deal just hours after seeming to accept its terms.
