AU Summit: UN chief urges South Sudanese president, rival to agree on unity gov't

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday urged leaders of war-torn South Sudan, where a deadline is fast approaching for President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, to agree terms for a new unity government. 

“The South Sudanese people's suffering is something that I feel very deeply and very emotionally,” Mr. Guterres told reporters in Addis Ababa.

A UN statement said he highlighted his own experience travelling to the world’s youngest nation, where the euphoria of independence in 2011 has given way to brutal conflict, displacement and mass rights violations. 

“So, I have one simple message to the leaders of the country: think about your people. Respect your people,” he said. 

“You have not the right to continue a confrontation when your people are suffering so much. It is your moral and political responsibility to put an end to this and to find the agreements that are necessary...It is for me totally unacceptable, that we are still again, close to the deadline of a new period that was declared, that there is no agreement on a number of issues.” 

He concluded saying it was time for South Sudanese leaders “to agree to cooperate and to deserve the wonderful people they have”. 

-0- PANA MA 9Feb2020