The President of South Sudan and a rebel leader accused each Tuesday of violating a ceasefire to end a conflict 21 months in the new state of the world as a leader Ban Ki-moon launched a appeal to them “not to betray and disappoint us.”
Ban said President Salva Kiir and the rebel leader Riek Machar was now time to fix their “serious mistakes.” A political dispute between the pair spiraling into a war that has killed thousands and forced two million people to flee.
“We are all here to help you, I hope you will not betray and disappoint us,” Ban said at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly in support of a peace agreement signed last month.
Kiir has been president since Sudan’s independence in 2011, Machar was his assistant until he was dismissed in 2013.
The conflict has reopened ethnic fault lines which opposed Dinka ethnic Nuer against Kiir forces Machar. Nearly 13,000 UN soldiers of peace are still sheltering over 200 000 people in camps across South Sudan.
“I am determined to end this senseless war,” said Kiir at the meeting by videoconference in South Sudan. “Unfortunately, while we are busy implementing the agreement, the armed opposition is violating the permanent ceasefire.”
When I decided to join the liberation struggle, three decades ago, I did not expect it to free my people, to bring them back to the war between them, “he said.
Machar, who attended the meeting in person Ban, said he agreed with Mr. Kiir that the cease-fire did not hold. He said that there were serious challenges to the implementation of the agreement signed last month, under increasing pressure from neighboring countries and the threats of sanctions by the Western powers and the United Nations .
“The strange thing is we are attacked, we blamed [for violating the ceasefire],” said Machar, referring to Kiir added: “He hit us, he ran to complain.”
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