Uganda calls on S Sudan rebels to observe ceasefire
Iran Press TV
Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:27PM GMT
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has warned rebels fighting against South Sudan government to follow through with a ceasefire agreement they reached with Juba or face confrontation from regional countries.
The Ugandan leader did not say whether regional nations would militarily intervene in South Sudan if the rebels failed to comply with the agreement.
'We gave [former South Sudanese Vice President] Riek Machar some four days to respond, and if he doesn't, we shall have to go for him; all of us Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), that is what we agreed in Nairobi,' Museveni said on Monday.
This is while some reports say Uganda has deployed troops to South Sudan.
IGAD leaders set December 31 as a deadline for talks to be held between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Machar.
South Sudan and the rebels agreed to an immediate ceasefire on December 27. Juba also said it would release a number of high-ranking politicians detained over an alleged plot to overthrow the government.
The fighting began in South Sudan on December 15 after President Kiir accused Machar of attempting to stage a coup against his government.
According to head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Hilde Johnson, more than 1,000 people have been killed in the violence.
The government in Juba has been fighting with corruption, unrest, and conflict in the deeply impoverished but oil-rich nation.
SZH/SS
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