S.Sudan rebel leader 'will do best' to attend peace talks - UN chief
Tue May 6, 2014 2:51pm GMT
* President Kiir confirms readiness to meet rival
* Kerry visited Juba last week to push for peace
* Ethiopia wants rivals in Addis Ababa on May 9 (Adds comments by Ban
Ki-moon about peace talks)
By Andrew Green
JUBA, May 6 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday
South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar had been invited to Ethiopia for
peace talks and would "try his best" to go by the end of the week.
Ban, the second world leader to visit Juba in less than a week to mediate
between the warring sides, said he was told by Machar that his remote
location could prevent him reaching Addis Ababa by May 9, when he and South
Sudanese President Salva Kiir had been asked to arrive.
"I expect the prime minister (of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn) will
facilitate dialogue between the two leaders," Ban told a news conference in
Juba, after saying Kiir had confirmed his readiness to meet Machar.
An advisor to Desalegn also said Machar had given his word to the prime
minister that he would attend.
"He is 100 percent willing to come to Addis to discuss issues of peace,
including talks with President Salva Kiir," Getachew Reda told Reuters.
The visit by Ban, who met Kiir in the South Sudanese capital and spoke to
Machar by phone, is part of a mounting international push to stop the
increasing ethnic violence that Washington and regional powers fear could
descend into genocide.
"The only viable option is to resolve this issue through dialogue. There is
no military solution," Ban said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Juba on Friday, secured a
commitment by Kiir to meet his rival but failed to win a similar commitment
from Machar. Kerry later threatened Machar with sanctions if he did not take
part.
U.S. and other diplomatic sources told Reuters on Monday Washington would
back up the diplomacy with sanctions on figures from both sides of the
conflict in coming days.
"When it comes to sanctions, that will be decided by the Security Council,"
the U.N. chief said when asked about possible punitive measures.
A South Sudanese official said there was no need for sanctions on the
government side, as the president had responded to international pressure
and agreed to meet Machar.
"(The government is) doing precisely what has been asked," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Mawien Makol Arik told Reuters.
Thousands of civilians have been killed and more than a million have fled
their homes since fighting started in mid-December between troops loyal to
Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and fighters backing his sacked deputy Machar, a
Nuer.
Fighting has largely run along ethnic lines.
Government and rebel negotiators in Ethiopia agreed on Monday to consider a
"month of tranquillity", but rebels and the army continued to battle for
control of the northern oil town of Bentiu. Aid workers reported no fighting
there on Tuesday.
Both sides claimed control of the town, capital of oil producing Unity state
and scene of an ethnic massacre last month that fuelled fears of a genocide.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Writing by Richard
Lough and Edmund Blair; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
WASHINGTON May 6 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday sanctioned two
people on opposing sides of the ethnic violence in South Sudan, showing the
growing frustration in Washington with leaders in an African country it
helped create.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1 million have fled their
homes since fighting erupted in the world's newest nation in December
between troops backing President Salva Kiir and soldiers loyal to his sacked
deputy, Riek Machar.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Peter Gadet, an army commander loyal
to the rebel leader Machar, and Major-General Marial Chanuong, head of
Kiir's presidential guard. The designation freezes any of their assets in
the United States and blocks U.S. people or companies from dealing with
them.
Reuters first reported on Monday that the United States expects to impose
sanctions on individuals from both sides of the conflict, in a warning sign
to curb violence top U.N. officials said could spiral into genocide.
South Sudan's U.N. mission did not have an immediate response when contacted
for comment on the U.S. move.
The sanctions are the first imposed under an executive order U.S. President
Barack Obama signed in April allowing sanctions against those responsible
for the violence in South Sudan.
Secretary of State John Kerry this week also threatened sanctions on South
Sudan rebel leader Machar if he spurned peace negotiations. Machar on
Tuesday said he would "try his best" to make it for peace talks.
Members of the U.N. Security Council are also considering targeted U.N.
measures in addition to any unilateral steps Washington takes on South
Sudan. (Reporting by Anna Yukhananov, additional reporting by Louis
Charbonneau in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Meredith Mazzilli)