British envoy rallies support for S. Sudan peace process

January 21, 2018 (KAMPALA) – The United Kingdom special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Christopher Trott has urged the regional countries to keep pressure on warring parties in South Sudan so they can stop hostilities and reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

“We cannot allow the killing that we have seen in South Sudan over the last three years to continue any longer and I think that Rwanda can in some ways teach a lesson to those that are involved in conflicts because you can speak from experience about the impact of this kind of fighting,” Trott told Rwanda’s The New Times newspaper.

The South Sudanese conflict, now in its fifth year, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million civilians.

Since the start of the war, however, the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have played key roles in efforts to end the conflict in the East African nation.

Other mediators, including Trott on behalf of the British government, have moved to support existing efforts to settle the disagreements.

The UK special envoy lauded Rwanda’s peacekeepers for having protected him during his visit in Malakal’s region of South Sudan where they are working side by side with their UK counterparts.

Rwanda contributes to the peace process in South Sudan in various ways, including the contribution of troops currently serving as peacekeepers under the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

Trott urged Rwandan President Paul Kagame who, will from 28 January, take over the AU chairmanship to keep a closer eye on the peace process in South Sudan.

“He [Kagame] is going to be the head of the continental organisation that has oversight over everything that is happening on this continent and I hope that he can use that to encourage IGAD to work further towards peace and to encourage the parties themselves to commit to peace,” said the UK official.

He further appealed to the warring factions in South Sudan’s ongoing conflict to honour the cessation of hostilities agreement they signed before the mediators in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 21 December 2017.

(ST)