Home Tags Posts tagged with "Salva Kiir"
Salva Kiir
The UN Security Council has warned over South Sudan’s food crisis as the worst in the world, calling for urgent action.
It said there was a “catastrophic food insecurity” in South Sudan, urging donor nations who pledged $618 million in aid to make good on their promise.
More than 50,000 of children may die of hunger in South Sudan unless international help increased (photo Getty Images)
The UN children’s fund, UNICEF, said some four million – a third of the population – could be affected.
It said that 50,000 children may die of hunger in South Sudan unless international help increased.
More than a million people have fled their homes since fighting erupted between different factions of South Sudan’s ruling party last December.
Thousands have now died in the conflict that started as a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar but has since escalated into ethnic violence.
Months of fighting have prevented farmers from planting or harvesting crops, causing food shortages nationwide.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, topped the list of fragile states in this year’s index released by The Fund for Peace, a leading US-based research institute.
[youtube qBrbIu06JSU 650]
South Sudan’s army and rebels have accused each other of breaching a ceasefire, only hours after it was meant to come into effect.
The army said rebels attacked government positions in the early hours of Sunday in the town of Bentiu in oil-rich Unity State.
The rebels said their positions were targeted by ground attack and artillery in Unity and Upper Nile states.
South Sudan’s army and rebels have accused each other of breaching a ceasefire, only hours after it was meant to come into effect
A deal to end the five-month conflict was signed on Friday in Ethiopia.
At the signing ceremony in Addis Ababa, President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar met face-to-face for the first time since hostilities broke out and agreed to halt fighting within 24 hours.
But in a statement issued on Sunday, rebel military spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said the reported violations showed “that Kiir is either insincere or not in control of his forces.”
For the army, spokesman Philip Aguer said the rebel attacks in Bentiu had been repelled.
There has been no independent verification of either side’s claims.
A previous deal, made in January, collapsed in days, with each side accusing the other of breaching terms.
Earlier, the UN called on both sides to facilitate deliveries of emergency aid to a population in danger of mass hunger.
The UN estimates that some 5 million of South Sudan’s citizens are in need. At least 1.5 million have been displaced and thousands of people have been killed.
Toby Lanzer, the UN’s top aid official in the region, said roads and rivers must be opened for emergency relief.
The hope had been that the ceasefire would pave the way for the creation of a transitional government, the drafting of a new constitution and fresh elections.
The UN has accused both the South Sudanese government and the rebels of crimes against humanity, including mass killings and gang-rape.
The violence began when President Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
Riek Machar denied the allegation, but then marshaled a rebel army to fight the government.
The battle assumed ethnic overtones, with Riek Machar relying heavily on fighters from his Nuer ethnic group and Salva Kiir from his Dinka community.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, breaking away from Sudan after decades of conflict between rebels and the Khartoum government.
[youtube vdtUcEOV9W8 650]
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar have signed a peace deal after a five-month conflict.
The deal calls for an immediate truce and the formation of a transitional government ahead of the drafting of a new constitution and new elections.
The conflict in the world’s newest state has left thousands dead and more than one million homeless.
A ceasefire agreed in January collapsed within days, with both sides accusing each other of restarting the fighting.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday’s agreement “could mark a breakthrough for the future of South Sudan”.
Salva Kiir and Riek Machar signed the deal in Addis Ababa, after their first face-to-face meeting since the hostilities began
The UN has accused both the South Sudanese government and the rebels of crimes against humanity, including mass killings and gang-rape.
The rivals signed the deal in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa late on Friday, after their first face-to-face meeting since the hostilities began.
The agreement calls for a cessation of hostilities within 24 hours of the signing. A permanent ceasefire will then be worked on.
Salva Kiir and Riek Machar are to issue immediate orders for troops to end combat and to allow in humanitarian aid.
It was not immediately clear who would form the transitional administration.
The deal was also signed by Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Desalegn, who hosted the talks.
Leading mediator Seyoum Mesfin, from the regional Igad bloc, congratulated Salva Kiir and Riek Machar for “ending the war”.
However, African Union official Smail Chergui warned that “given the current crisis, the restoration of peace in South Sudan will not be easy”.
A UN report released on Thursday said that “widespread and systematic” atrocities had been carried out by both sides in homes, hospitals, mosques, churches and UN compounds.
It called for those responsible to be held accountable.
An estimated five million people are in need of aid, the UN says.
The violence began when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
Riek Machar denied the allegation, but then marshaled a rebel army to fight the government.
The battle assumed ethnic overtones, with Riek Machar relying heavily on fighters from his Nuer ethnic group and Salva Kiir from his Dinka community.
The UN has about 8,500 peacekeepers in South Sudan. However, they have struggled to contain the conflict.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, breaking away from Sudan after decades of conflict between rebels and the Khartoum government.
[youtube zn2r4TqckkM 650]
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir have met for the first time since a border dispute brought their countries close to conflict in April.
Omar al-Bashir sat down with Salva Kiir during an African Union summit in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
South Sudan only became independent from the north at the end of 2011 and numerous issues remain unresolved between the two countries.
A United Nations deadline for them to settle the dispute is set for 2 August.
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir meet for the first time since border dispute
Among other issues, their border has not been finalized and there are disagreements over oilfields, transport payments and divisions of the national debt.
No information has been released about what the two presidents spoke about during their meeting in Addis Ababa, but they shook hands publicly for the first time at the end of it.
The last official talks between Presidents Salva Kiir and Omar al-Bashir were at the previous AU summit in January.
At this summit, AU delegates urged the governments in Khartoum and Juba to settle their differences on oil and border demarcation before the UN’s deadline.
The UN introduced its three-month deadline after cross-border clashes centred on the oil-rich region of Heglig brought Sudan and South Sudan close to all-out war in April.
South Sudan’s independence in July 2011 was supposed to herald the end of more than 50 years of bitter conflict between the two Sudans, but tensions have lingered.
Saturday’s meeting between the two leaders is unlikely to yield any immediate results, but it at least shows the two countries are feeling the pressure to resolve their dispute.
