US Ambassador to the UN, Ms Samantha Power, told reporters in Juba, South Sudan’s capital city that there were appeals for the Regional Protection Force to be deployed quickly. The diplomats had arrived on Friday in a bid to secure Kiir’s agreement to the extra troops.
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President Kiir showed the ambassadors from the council’s 15 member states bullet marks in the heart of the building as well as shattered window panes.
Fighting erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, when government forces loyal to President Kiir began fighting rebels led by the president’s former deputy, Riek Machar. He has also suggested the United Nations peacekeeping mission’s neutrality has been compromised as its camps sheltering displaced people are protecting supporters of the opposition.
The UN said it would consider an arms embargo if the South Sudanese government objected to deployment of the force.
“We will design the modalities”, Mr Lomoro said, without elaborating.
The UNMISS news release also said that the Council delegation will hold meetings with President Kiir and other Transitional Government members, with the aim of reinforcing the various messages contained in a number of Council resolutions on South Sudan.
Alexis Lamek has urged both sides to adhere to the fragile deal to finally end the civil war.
Facing intense global pressure, war-ravaged South Sudan on Sunday agreed to the deployment of a 4,000-member regional protection force approved last month by the United Nations Security Council. The troops are to protect civilians in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.
This plan is expected by end of September 2016, he said, explaining that such steps would include a review of procedures related to movement of UNMISS and streamlining the bureaucratic processes.
Security Council members visited the United Nations camp Saturday.
“The refugees have brought to us very disturbing reports”, UNHCR Spokesman Melissa Fleming said at a briefing in Geneva.
The delegation which is on its second day of the visit to camp known as “protection of civilians sites”, blamed the political leaders for the crisis and the inability to achieve peace to their country.
However, it has now agreed to the deployment on the condition that the force will be made up of regional troops whose remit will be agreed upon with the government before deployment. The council meets with African Union officials in Ethiopia on Monday.
Machar, who’s now in neighboring Sudan, has said he will only return to Juba if regional forces are deployed.
Last week, Kiir removed Machar again from his post, replacing him with Taban Deng Gai, who had previously served as Machar’s chief negotiator, as well as the country’s mining minister.
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Earlier Sunday, the United Nations team met with displaced people in the northern town of Wau, the scene of bitter fighting in recent months. Tens of thousands of people have died.
