Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has rejected U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s calls for an arms embargo on South Sudan.
“I don't agree with the arms embargo proposal. It will create a vacuum & plunge South Sudan into more chaos like we have seen in Somalia” Museveni said on his Twitter account. “An arms embargo would also destroy the local force on which a strong, integrated national army should be built”
Museveni’s statement is a blow to the U.N. Secretary General, who came to East Africa this weekend to rally support for an arms embargo and sanctions. Museveni and Ki-moon met on Saturday on the margins of an African Union summit in Rwanda.
A U.N. arms embargo would block the sale and servicing of weapons in South Sudan. The measure has been effectively blocked by the Russian and United States government, diplomatic sources say.
Some, like the Secretary General, believe that it can help to stop fighting in the country. Others believe that it will have unforeseen effects on the peace process, and could empower hardliners on both sides.
After recent fighting in Juba, the British government has advocated for an arms embargo, and the Russian government said that it was open to the idea.
"We could do an arms embargo tomorrow and nothing will change so we need to have a comprehensive view of the situation," Churkin told reporters, Reuters said "An arms embargo is not a magic wand, a recipe for averting the worst there. So we need to give some serious thought to what can be done,”