http://www.turkishpress.com/news/402448/
IGAD to deploy peacekeepers to S. Sudan: Official
Thursday, April 17, 2014
ADDIS ABABA - The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an
East Africa trade bloc, plans to deploy peacekeepers in South Sudan by the
end of April, an official close to South Sudanese peace talks said Thursday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who currently serves as IGAD
chairman, told visiting South Sudanese President Salva Kiir that IGAD
planned to send a peacekeeping force to South Sudan as the situation on the
ground required, the official told Anadolu Agency.
According to the official, the peacekeeping force will be composed of
troops from all five IGAD member states: Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda
and Somalia.
Eritrea's membership in IGAD is currently suspended.
South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when
Kiir accused sacked vice president Riek Machar of trying to overthrow his
regime.
The conflict has already claimed more than 10,000 lives, with the U.N.
estimating that some one million South Sudanese have been displaced by the
recent violence.
Following weeks of IGAD-mediated peace talks in Addis Ababa, the two sides
signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in January.
They have yet to reach an agreement, however, to resolve the ongoing
conflict.
Copyright (c) 2014 Anadolu Agency
Received on Thu Apr 17 2014 - 21:32:47 EDT