The South Sudan has told US Secretary of State John Kerry that
he intends to sign a peace accord meant to end the civil war in that country,
the State Department said Wednesday.
On Monday, President Salva Kiir
initialed part of the power-sharing deal, but said he would wait until early
September before finalising it.
Washington criticised Kiir at
the time for what it called a failure of leadership in acting to end the
two-year war between government forces and rebels that has killed tens of
thousands in the world’s youngest country.
Kerry spoke with Kiir by
telephone Wednesday, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
“President Kiir assured the
secretary that he has every intention of signing the peace agreement. He said
he needed a couple more days of consultations but he made it very clear that it
was his intention to sign,” Kirby said.
The head of the rebel group,
Riek Machar, signed the peace accord Monday, and on Tuesday the US and Britain
pushed for UN sanctions against Kiir if he fails to sign it. The US on
Wednesday then circulated a draft UN Security Council Resolution proposing an
arms embargo and targeted sanctions against South Sudan if Kiir refuses to ink
the peace pact.
The draft resolution would kick in only if Kiir continues to
delay signing the peace accord past the September 1 deadline to do so,
according to a US official.
The Security Council is
expected to vote on the resolution by that deadline.
The African Union also warned
Wednesday that the rivals would bring “disaster” on themselves and the region
if no deal is signed.
Previous agreements have fallen
through, and it waits to be seen whether it will be different this time.
Nearly 70% of the
country’s population is facing food shortages while nearly 200,000 terrified
civilians are sheltering in UN bases.
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