East African leaders yesterday traveled to South Sudan to witness South Sudanese President Salva Kiir’s expected signing of a peace deal with rebels, amid threats of UN sanctions in the absence of an accord.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who has hosted months of talks aimed at ending the 20-month war that has killed tens of thousands of people, arrived for the signing ceremony due later in the day.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s office said he left yesterday morning for South Sudan’s capital Juba, where he was to be joined by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who sent troops to back Kiir during the war.
Photo: AP
South Sudanese presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told reporters that Kiir “will sign the peace agreement,” but the government has said it still has “reservations” about some parts of the power-sharing deal.
At least seven ceasefires have already been agreed to and then shattered within days — if not hours — in the world’s newest nation, which broke away from Sudan in 2011.
The deal to be signed yesterday would give rebels the post of first vice president, which means that rebel leader Riek Machar would likely return to the post from which he was sacked in July 2013, six months before the war began.
Machar already signed the deal on Monday last week.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday piled pressure on Kiir to do likewise, warning it was ready to “act immediately” if he did not.
“We will take immediate action if he does not sign, or if he signs with reservations,” said Nigerian Ambassador Joy Ogwu, whose country chairs the council.
The African Union warned that any deal had to be not only signed, but also implemented, calling on both sides to “commit to genuine reconciliation” and to “put the interests of South Sudan and its people above narrow interests.”
South Sudan’s civil war erupted in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of planning a coup, sparking a cycle of retaliatory killings that has split the country along ethnic lines.
The conflict has been characterized by ethnic massacres and rape.
The deal before Kiir commits both sides to an immediate end to fighting and the implementation of a “permanent ceasefire” within 72 hours.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS