The United States is proposing that the U.N. Security Council impose an arms embargo on South Sudan.
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The proposal was circulated shortly after Kiir told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call that he would sign the peace deal after “a couple of more days of consultation”, according to Fox News.
While rebel chief Riek Machar signed a deal late Monday, Kiir only initialled parts of the document, diplomats said, with mediators saying he would return at the beginning of September to “finalise” a deal.
A South Sudanese journalist was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the outskirts of the country’s capital, his father said Thursday, in an attack that came days after President Salva Kiir was reported to have threatened to kill reporters “working against the country”.
He said the President took to Addis the position of the government, governors of the ten states, political parties and parliament in regards to what compromised IGAD Agreement for consideration before the peace agreement is signed.
“While this is the first time, to my knowledge, the president has made such comments it sets a risky precedent, ostensibly providing a green card to those in security and other government departments to target, even kill, journalists who speak out against an increasingly marginalized, unpopular government”, said Rhodes.
On security arrangements, the partially signed peace deal will declare the national capital, Juba, a demilitarized zone, with a radius of 25kms.
Fighting has killed more than 10,000 people and forced more than 2 million to flee their homes in one of Africa’s poorest countries. Meanwhile, Kiir still has to balance the demands of his country’s hardliners who oppose conceding to Machar’s rebels.
However, South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, refused to sign the deal.
South Sudan, which became independent from Sudan in 2011, has seen no fewer than seven cease-fires declared and broken since fighting began in December 2013 between the principal combatants, Mr. Machar’s Nuers and Mr. Kiir’s Dinkas.
“If the government will not sign up to the IGAD-plus deal, then we must all be firm on our next steps”, British Deputy Ambassador Peter Wilson told the 15-member council.
Dlamini-Zuma issued the statement after meeting with representatives of the various global parties involved in the so-called “IGAD-Plus” peace initiative for South Sudan. “We cannot and must not turn our backs on the people of South Sudan“.
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The United States welcomes the signing yesterday by the opposition and other stakeholders of the South Sudan peace agreement. Both government and rebel troops have been accused of widespread atrocities against civilians often on the basis of their ethnicities.
