JUBA: South Sudan’s government said yesterday that fighting in the country’s five-month civil war appeared to have stopped as a ceasefire with rebels came into effect following a peace deal.
President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, a former vice president, met in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Friday, shook hands and prayed together, and agreed to order a halt to fighting within 24 hours — or by last evening.
The agreement came after international pressure on both sides to stop a conflict marked by human rights abuses, a major humanitarian crisis and fears the world’s youngest nation was on the brink of a genocide and famine.
“The situation is calm. We have not received any attacks since this morning,” South Sudan’s defence minister, Kuol Manyang, said late yesterday.
Several independent aid agencies also confirmed that major frontlines around key towns were quiet throughout the day.
The United Nations food agency, meanwhile, warned there was only a “small window of opportunity” to avert famine, and appealed for relief agencies — who have been subjected to armed attacks and looting — to be allowed unfettered access.
In their deal, Kiir and Machar agreed to form a transitional government and hold fresh elections, and “open humanitarian corridors... and to cooperate with the UN” to ensure aid is delivered.
The war has claimed thousands — and possibly tens of thousands — of lives, with more than 1.2 million people forced to flee their homes.
European Union foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton warned that “humanitarian calamity beckons” and that “the rapid implementation of this agreement is the only way large numbers of South Sudanese can be spared from violence and famine.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who also visited the country last week, appealed to Kiir and Machar to “immediately translate these commitments into action on the ground”.
Oxfam, one of a handful of aid agencies working in the worst-affected areas of the country, said the deal was a “timely breakthrough” but warned that South Sudan still needed a “mammoth aid effort”.
“Civilians caught up in this bloody conflict need to have full confidence that they can return to their homes without fear of violence,” said Cecilia Millan, Oxfam’s local head.
“They need to get back to their fields to plant their crops as soon as possible or they will lose the chance of feeding their families.”
The World Food Programme said “a hunger catastrophe can still be avoided, but humanitarian agencies must be allowed to reach tens of thousands of people in need before it’s too late”.
UN rights chief Navi Pillay said she recognised “many of the precursors of genocide” listed in a UN report on atrocities that was released during the week.
These included broadcasts urging “attacks on civilians in hospitals, churches and mosques, even attacks on people sheltering in UN compounds — all on the basis of the victims’ ethnicity”.
The conflict has seen the army and communities divide along ethnic lines, pitting members of Kiir’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Nuer.
Observers believe implementing the truce will be tough for both sides.
“Some of the field commanders tend to be behaving in their own way without any instructions from above. So we can still expect some rocky roads ahead,” said Simon Monoja Lubang, a lecturer at the University of Juba.
AFP
