The United Kingdom, United States and Norway sent diplomats to meet Uganda’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oryem Okello, according to the Ugandan government.
In a statement on the website of the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday, Okello said after meeting the diplomats that Riek Machar may face sanctions by African countries if he does not cooperate with the IGAD-led peace process.
“Hon Okello told his visitors that the Heads of State had resolved to take tough measures against Reik Machar but with intervention of [US Secretary of State] John Kerry a follow-up summit was suggested and is to take place early November to have the two sides agree on the deal,” reads the statement.
It is unclear from this statement whether the Ugandan official meant to imply that Kerry opposed sanctions against Riek Machar or not.
Okello said he was “optimistic” that a deal will be signed basing on the information from his counterpart in South Sudan that “informal talks are going on well.”
He was apparently referring to the inter-factional SPLM talks hosted in Arusha, Tanzania, outside the auspices of the East African IGAD peace talks in Ethiopia.