The US State Department announced yesterday after receiving a South Sudanese minister that the country was “held hostage to short-sighted and destructive actors,” adding that the United States would not hesitate to use sanctions against its leaders.
The official statement came after a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and the South Sudanese Minister in the Office of the President Awan Riak.
Kerry “raised the need for the Government of South Sudan immediately to stop the fighting, provide full humanitarian access, and cease harassment and threats against the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS),” according to the statement.
The two officials discussed the peace process, with Kerry expressing support for the negotiations led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
“The Secretary emphasized the U.S. Government’s continued call for South Sudan’s leaders to prioritize the interests of the South Sudanese people over their own personal or ethnic interests,” the State Department disclosed.
“The United States will continue to stand with the people of South Sudan and with those who take the courageous – and necessary – steps to bring peace, stability and good governance to South Sudan, so that its people can return to their livelihoods and its economy can flourish. But we will not stand by while the hopes of a nation are held hostage to short-sighted and destructive actors,” it added.
Finally, the statement affirmed that sanctions authorized by the United States president on 3 April “can and will be used” against South Sudanese leaders who undermine the peace process, attack democratic institutions or processes, or commit human rights abuses.
Officials in the South Sudanese government have expressed outrage at the sanctions threat as well as a statement by Western diplomats condemning harassment of the UN peacekeeping mission.
Last week Bashir Gbandi, the deputy foreign minister, reacted to a diplomatic statement saying, “We are astonished to read such a statement which contains condemnations of the government… in public media without knowledge of the ministry of foreign affairs.”
The government demanded an apology from the Western nations, but they declined.
Photo: Secretary of State John Kerry (left) with President Barack Obama at a meeting in November 2013 (White House)
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