South Sudan president says peace agreement entering critical stage

May 17, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Wednesday called for international support to the government efforts to implement the peace deal signed in August 2015 saying that the process is entering a critical stage.

President Kiir made the remark on Wednesday after meeting the Egyptian ambassador to the South Sudan who paid him a courtesy call aimed at following the outcome of the earlier visit to Cairo.

“With the support of the region which included the role played by the Egyptian and the people of Egypt, we made significant progress with the implementation of the agreement”.

“Most of the key issues have been implemented but now we are entering a critical stage. We are in the process of integration of the forces indicated in the agreement into the army. This is now in progress and this requires support from the region and the international community in terms of training so that we transform the army into a professional service institution”, said President Kiir.

Kiir said Egypt remains an important regional ally in technical support to train and equip the army with necessary military skills and capabilities especially in air and riverine units in the army.

The South Sudanese President was in Cairo in January 2017 for talks on bilateral relations. At the time it was purported that Egypt plans to rally Kiir in an alliance aiming to destabilise Addis Ababa and Khartoum in order to preserve its interests as the Ethiopian government is building near the Sudan border that may threaten its share of Nile water.

The South Sudanese presidency vigorously denied that Juba had accepted an Egyptian request to support and harbour Ethiopian rebels during a recent visit of President Salva Kiir to Cairo.

The Egyptian Ambassador Ahmed Adly said his country remains ready to continue giving support to South Sudan, but he did not specify the support his country would provide the government of President Kiir.

(ST)