South Sudan’s neighbours threw their weight behind President Salva Kiir yesterday in an ethnic-based conflict ravaging the world’s newest country, saying they would not accept any bid to overthrow his democratically elected government.
Kiir also received a boost in Malakal, capital of South Sudan’s major oil-producing state of Upper Nile, where government forces said they had defeated rebels loyal to Kiir’s former deputy Riek Machar after four days of intense fighting.
A Cabinet minister said Kiir’s government was now ready for an immediate ceasefire - but no one was immediately available from Machar’s side to comment on the offer, or the report from Malakal.
Machar has previously said he would only agree to talks if Kiir released his allies held in detention.
Addressing a special summit of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an east African regional body, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta urged Kiir and Machar to seize “the small window of opportunity” and start peace talks.
“Let it be known that we in IGAD will not accept the unconstitutional overthrow of a duly and democratically elected government in South Sudan. Violence has never provided optimum solutions,” Kenyatta said in a statement.
The violence erupted in South Sudan on December 15 and quickly spread, dividing the landlocked country of 10.8 million along ethnic lines, largely between the Nuer – Machar’s people – and the Dinka, to whom Kiir belongs.
Western powers and regional governments fear the bloodletting could lead to a civil war, threatening a fragile region with notoriously porous borders.
The regional leaders called for a creation of an “aid corridor” to help badly-needed supplies reach remote areas. The United Nations, which is sending extra peacekeepers to South Sudan, said about 121,600 people have been displaced during the 13 days of fighting, including 63,000 civilians who had sought refuge in its bases.
The army said it had taken back full control of Malakal, the administrative centre of Upper Nile, a state which currently supplies all of South Sudan’s crude, after fighting shut down oilfields in other areas.