Mushikiwabo: All options on the table for South Sudan

Multiple options for intervention in the South Sudan flare-up will be considered at the ongoing 27th African Union Summit including military intervention, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo, has said. Mushikiwabo, who was yesterday briefing journalists on the ongoing summit in Kigali, said the South Sudan conflict would be addressed from all angles with aim of not only keeping peace but also getting on with the political process. “For extra efforts in intervention, nothing is off the table, leaders gathered in Kigali will do everything possible to make sure that the people of South Sudan are protected and try and get the political process back on track, so whether it will be political, or military, this is one of the critical discussions to take place in Kigali,” she said. Among the options to be considered at the summit, she said is an intervention by the Eastern Africa Standby Force which was formed for such situations. Mushikiwabo said peacekeeping was one of the issues to be discussed with the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, expected in the country today. “We are expecting the Secretary-General of the United Nations tomorrow afternoon to meet with the leaders of the continent regarding the issue,” the minister said. She added that the Summit of Heads of State and Government would also discuss peacekeepers mandate, especially the United Nations Mission for South Sudan, whose troops include a contingent of Rwanda Defence Forces. “Rwanda has peacekeepers in South Sudan and our own troops have been under very extreme circumstances and our peacekeepers have been injured. We think of protection of civilians as key and we will make sure they have the protection they need, we will also discuss the peacekeepers mandate,” she added. South Sudan first vice-president Riek Machar Wednesday announced that his troops had withdrawn to outside of Juba and were not planning for war. Forces loyal to Machar and those backing President Salva Kiir fought street battles in the capital during a five-day period until a ceasefire was reached on Monday. African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, on Wednesday, condemned the violence, saying the African Union will not look on as the people of South Sudan continue to suffer. Dlamini-Zuma said African countries should live by the commitment they made three years ago (when the 54-member continental bloc celebrated 50 years of establishment) to end conflict. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Mushikiwabo: All options on the table for South Sudan