US military officers to join UN in South Sudan

January 11, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Five US military officers will be dispatched to join the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) as it struggles with the fallout of recent violence in the new state.

The White House on Tuesday announced that the officers would join UNMIS in the capital Juba for purposes of strategic planning and operations. It added that they would not engage in combat operation but would be armed for personal protection.

South Sudan has recently plunged into an episode of tribal violence that killed more than 3000 and displaced thousands in Jonglei State. The UN says tens of thousands of people displaced by the violence are in urgent need of high-nutritional food, clean water, health care and shelter

US president Barack Obama issued a memorandum on Tuesday certifying that the US officers serving with UNMISS will face no risk of prosecution by the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) because South Sudan is not a party to the Rome Statute which founded the ICC.

The White House said this designation is required when sending US troops abroad.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said that the five officers are expected to depart for South Sudan later this week, and that there are no plans to expand the US presence in UNMISS.

Washington last week added South Sudan to the list of countries eligible to receive US weapons and defense assistance, a move that upset the south’s northern neighbors in Khartoum.

Obama’s administration also authorized US companies to operate in South Sudan’s oil sector.

South Sudan gained independence from the main homeland Sudan in July last year in line with a vote granted under a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war with the north.

(ST)