UN sends more peacekeepers to South Sudan as violence spreads <http://www.reuters.com/> Description: ReutersBy Carl Odera and Michelle Nichols | Reuters
By Carl Odera and Michelle Nichols
JUBA/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council approved plans on
Tuesday to almost double the number of peacekeepers in South Sudan in a bid
to protect civilians from violence as reports of mass graves fueled fears of
ethnic bloodshed in the world's newest state.
The 15-member council unanimously authorized a plan by U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's to boost the strength of the force in South
Sudan to 12,500 troops and 1,323 police, as some 45,000 civilians seek
protection at U.N. bases.
The additional U.N. troops and police will reinforce U.N. bases where
civilians are seeking shelter. But Ban warned, "Even with additional
capabilities, we will not be able to protect every civilian in need in South
Sudan."
Violence erupted in the capital Juba on December 15 and quickly spread,
dividing the land-locked country of 10.8 million along ethnic lines of Nuer
and Dinka. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 under a peace agreement to
end decades of war.
"My cousin and nephew were both caught and executed. How can I leave this
place?" asked Gatjang, a 29-year-old Nuer at a U.N. base in Juba where
thousands of civilians were crammed. "Even here. What if they sneak inside
and attack us?"
Western powers and east African states, keen to prevent more chaos in a
fragile region, have tried to mediate between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka,
and rebel leader Riek Machar, a Nuer, who was vice president until Kiir
sacked him in July.
"Whatever the differences, nothing can justify the violence that has
engulfed their young nation," Ban told the council after the vote. "There is
no military solution to this conflict. This is a political crisis which
requires a peaceful, political solution."
OIL OUTPUT REDUCED
The fighting is affecting oil production, which accounts for 98 percent of
government revenue. Petroleum Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau said output had
fallen by 45,000 barrels per day to 200,000 bpd after Unity state oilfields
shut down.
Dau said production in Upper Nile state, where most of South Sudan's oil is
extracted, was safe and outside the reach of rebels.
Kiir said on Tuesday that government troops had retaken control of the
Jonglei state capital Bor, a key town that last week fell to rebels loyal to
Machar.
Ban said three U.N. personnel were injured at a U.N. base in Bor on Tuesday.
Most fighting has involved Dinka and Nuer factions of the Sudan People's
Liberation Army, with militias and marauding youths also reported to be
attacking rival ethnic groups. Kiir and Machar both have said the conflict
is political, not tribal.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said a mass grave
believed to contain the bodies of 75 ethnic Dinka soldiers had been
discovered in the rebel-held city of Bentiu, capital of Unity state.
The U.N. mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, said in a statement later
on Tuesday that it could not confirm the report of a mass grave. It said
reports now suggested that "this is an inflation of a skirmish resulting in
about 15 fatalities, with details to be confirmed."
The Juba government said it was not responsible for a mass grave in Bentiu,
and messaged on Twitter: "Bentiu is currently under the control of the rebel
leader Riek Machar - we have nothing to do with that area & the mass
killings #SouthSudan."
Pillay said in a statement that there were also "reportedly at least two
other mass graves in Juba." UNMISS said it was investigating reports of
atrocities.
She urged both sides to protect civilians, and said political and military
leaders could be held to account for crimes. "Mass extrajudicial killings,
the targeting of individuals on the basis of their ethnicity and arbitrary
detentions have been documented in recent days," she said.
AFRICAN UNION, U.S. URGE TALKS
Hilde Johnson, the U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary-General,
said a previous estimate of 500 dead, made on the third day of the
10-day-old conflict, would rise.
"It is likely that the numbers are much higher than initial calculations but
we do not know," she told reporters in Juba.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the crisis
had displaced an estimated 81,000 people, though the real number was likely
to be higher.
U.N. envoys on prevention of genocide and responsibility to protect, Adama
Dieng and Jennifer Welsh, warned in a statement, "Targeted attacks against
civilians and U.N. personnel, such as those that occurred in Juba and
Jonglei, could constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity."
While Kiir and Machar have said they are open to talks, Machar said on
Monday he would only negotiate if his detained political allies were
released, a demand the government swiftly rejected.
The African Union's Peace and Security Council on Tuesday called on Kiir to
"consider releasing the political personalities currently detained in Juba,
in order to facilitate dialogue and to encourage them to contribute
positively to the search for a solution."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement that U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry had urged Kiir and Machar on Tuesday to accept
a cessation of hostilities and begin mediated political talks.
She said Donald Booth, the U.S. special envoy to South Sudan, was in Juba
trying to secure a final commitment from Kiir and Machar to begin talks.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Lesley
Wroughton in Washington Writing by Drazen Jorgic and Michelle Nichols;
Editing by Alistair Lyon, David Evans, Toni Reinhold)
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Allan
Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 9:46 AM
To: U-A-H
Subject: {UAH} South Sudans Rebels Seize Malakal as at least $4 billion has
been stolen by South Sudan government officials.
<http://www.southsudannewsagency.com/images/resized/images/stories/aaaa-aa-r
euters-aaaa_200_200.jpg>
SPLA soldiers walk alongside a tank. Photo: Reuters/Hereward Holland
Malakal, December 25, 2013 (SSNA) -- The capital of the oil-rich Upper Nile
State, Malakal, has been captured by the defected SPLA forces loyal to the
former South Sudanese Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon.
The rebels seized the state capital late Tuesday.
The capture of Malakal is a major blow to President Kiir's administration
who is already fighting two wars in Jonglei and Unity States.
We are now preparing to announce our new Governor, Simon Kun Puoch is gone
for good, a source with Machars forces told the South Sudan News Agency.
There is a saying in the Republic of South Sudan, if you mess [ed] up with
the Upper Nile, then, you are deemed to fail, he asserted.
On Tuesday, an intense fighting erupted between units of the SPLA Division
1st and 7stthe fight broke out when nearly all soldiers of both divisions
declared their defection to Machars forces by firing bullets in the sky.
Lt. General Johnson Gony Biliu, who commands the two divisions, is now on
the run.
Residents of the capital, Malakal, reported that the city is normal and that
everybody is happy.
"We are free, free, free!", vows one resident.
Meanwhile, the Governor of the Upper Nile State, Simon Kun Puoch, was
sneaked out of the UNMISS compound in the morning hours of Wednesday by UN
staff because he complained that some state officials who were with him in
the compound dont like him, the SSNA has learned. His whereabouts is
unknown.
--
*A positive mind is a courageous mind, without doubts and fears, using the
experience and wisdom to give the best of him/herself.
We must dare invent the future!
The only way of limiting the usurpation of power by
individuals, the military or otherwise, is to put the people in charge -
Capt. Thomas. Sankara {RIP} 1949-1987
*Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent
revolution inevitable**
*J.F Kennedy
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