UN warns S. Sudan against rejecting extra troops

September 3, 2016 (JUBA) – Members of United Nations Security Council have warned South Sudan against rejecting the 4,000 troops to boast peacekeepers in the country.

Addressing to reporters in the capital, Juba on Friday, the United States permanent representative to the world body, Samantha Power said an outright failure to cooperate would lead to “Plan B”, which could be a disappointment to South Sudan as a country.

“So, we are here as the Council to not get to plan B. It would be a great disappointment not merely for the UN Security Council, but for the people of this country who count on the government,” said Power.

Last month, the Security Council passed a solution to draw 4,000 soldiers from countries neighboring South Sudan to be deployed in Juba to monitor implementation of the August 2015 peace agreement that ended the 21 months of war between forces loyal to President Salva and his former Vice President Riek Machar.

The agreement suffered a set back in July when clashes erupted between the country’s forces, forcing Machar to flee before he was eventually replaced by Taban Deng Gai.

Power said the UN was on mission to convince South Sudan overnment into accepting the force.

“We really need to see progress on the deployment of the regional protection force and the lifting obstruction of humanitarian actors and of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and hopefully of moving forward under the political agreement which is going to […] be the foundation for stability,” said the senior US official.

“We expect the government of South Sudan as the newest member-state to the United Nations to want to end the culture of impunity, to want to end killings and sexual assaults and ethnically-based attacks and political attacks,” she added.

The Security Council members met President Kiir and his ministers in a closed door.

Meanwhile, members of the Security Council conclude their visit on Sunday with a visit to the UN camps, which currently hosts ten of thousands of civilians displaced by conflict.

(ST)