http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-01/kerry-arrives-in-ethiopia-with-agenda-heavy-on-security-peace.html
Kerry Arrives in Africa With Agenda Heavy on Security, Peace
By Nicole Gaouette May 1, 2014 4:13 AM ET
Secretary of State John Kerry starts a five-day visit to Africa today with
a focus on security that includes reining in the conflict in South Sudan.
Kerry at a meeting today in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, agreed with
East African foreign ministers that a peacekeeping force must be swiftly
deployed in South Sudan.
"A legitimate force, that has the ability to make peace, needs to be on the
ground as soon as possible," Kerry told reporters. The Ethiopian, Ugandan
and Kenyan foreign ministers said they must work out the details on the
"timing, manner and size" of the force, said Kerry.
Violence has roiled South Sudan, the world's newest country, since December
when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and other
leaders of staging a coup, a charge they deny.
The conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension, stoking grievances between
Kiir's Dinka tribe and Machar's Nuer group. The fighting has left thousands
of people dead and displaced more than a million. Both sides have flouted a
cease-fire signed in January, according to United Nations peacekeeping
chief Herve Ladsous.
President Barack Obama has prepared an executive order that would allow for
sanctions against individuals in South Sudan whose U.S. assets could be
frozen and whose travel there would be barred. A U.S. official, who wasn't
authorized to speak on the record, said a list of individual names was
being discussed and could include Kiir and Machar.
Sanctions Support
Kerry, whose trip will also take him to Angola and the Democratic Republic
of Congo, will be working to persuade South Sudan's neighbors to apply
sanctions as well. Without regional support on sanctions, the official
acknowledged that any U.S. move to punish South Sudanese leaders will be
less effective.
Kerry will also meet today with African Union leaders to focus on security
issues in sub-Saharan Africa, including finding further steps to ease
long-standing conflict in Congo and in the Central African Republic.
Kerry's African Union meeting, the fourth high level dialogue with the
continental body, will also touch on issues of governance, corruption and
development, said the U.S. official, who is traveling with Kerry. While
Kerry's strong focus on the trip is peace and security issues, he will also
emphasize the importance of human rights and freedoms.
Throughout, Kerry will be working on arrangements for the first U.S.-Africa
leaders' summit, which Obama has planned for August.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Gaouette in Washington at
ngaouette_at_bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Walcott at
jwalcott9_at_bloomberg.net Sarah McGregor, Amy Teibel, Shaji Mathew
Received on Thu May 01 2014 - 07:37:27 EDT