KAMPALA Imposing an external "trusteeship" government on South Sudan to try to end a three-year ethnic civil war and potential genocide in the world's youngest nation would only make its security situation worse, Uganda said on Thursday.Patience towards President Salva Kiir's government in Juba has worn thin as the refugee numbers have grown, fuelling talk in international policy circles – including the opinion pages of the New York Times - that "trusteeship" is a viable solution.However, Ugandan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Okello Oryem rejected the notion, saying such interference would be opposed even by Kiir's sworn enemy, Riek Machar, currently under house arrest in South Africa."I don't think it's a good idea," said Oryem, the principal foreign policy voice in Uganda, one of South Sudan's most powerful neighbors."That's a colonial mentality. If an attempt was made to have trusteeship in South Sudan, then I think even the Machar side would resist it and fight it," he told Reuters in an interview. "That's an idea that should not be mooted."
South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in 2011 but tensions between its many different ethnic groups quickly surfaced and civil war broke out in 2013 between Kiir's largely Dinka security forces and units loyal to Machar, a Nuer.An internationally brokered peace deal restored some calm, although that broke down in July last year with heavy fighting between the rival forces in Juba, after which an injured Machar managed to flee to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.Uganda sent in troops when hostilities first broke out in 2013, a move that Kampala says prevented ethnic slaughter on a similar scale to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
However, criticism of its action and suggestions it had ulterior motives meant Uganda was not prepared to re-commit any troops, even under the aegis of a Regional Protection Force mooted last year by the African Union, Oryem said."We were misunderstood by the international community and all hell broke out - we were being accused of everything under the sun and being told to leave," he said.
"We've told them we are not going to go back," he added. "Uganda has no more interest in sending its troops and boys to South Sudan."Separately, army spokesman Richard Karemire said the overall security situation in South Sudan had improved since Machar's flight from Juba. He also voiced support for the removal of Machar, once Kiir's deputy, from circulation by South Africa late last year."Would South Sudan sleep in the absence of Riek Machar?" Karemire said. "Every time there is a problem, he is in the middle of it. This is something we've got to ask ourselves." (Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Newer articles:
- South Sudan’s crisis: Mass killings and the international response - 03/02/2017 11:33
- South Sudan’s President Rejects Parallel between his Country’s Independence and Sahara Issue - 03/02/2017 09:27
- Showering in South Sudan…Sometimes - 03/02/2017 08:58
- South Sudan and UN renew friendship - 03/02/2017 07:46
- Morocco funds relocation of South Sudan capital - 03/02/2017 02:08
Older news items
- South Sudan's civil war takes heavy toll on civilians - 02/02/2017 10:33
- Approach to Sudan must change - 02/02/2017 05:47
- In South Sudan, wheelchair basketball distracts from war - 02/02/2017 02:23
- Kenya agrees to rejoin South Sudan UN force - 01/02/2017 13:46
- Morocco king begins 2-day state visit to South Sudan - 01/02/2017 10:40
Latest news items (all categories):
- South Sudan’s ‘Game Of Thrones’ Continues – Analysis - 01/12/2024 17:47
- South Sudan secured over 282 150 doses of oral cholera vaccine to contain the cholera outbreak - 01/12/2024 17:43
- The idea of one nation and one people is a distortion of our reality!!! - 29/11/2024 12:54
- In South Sudan with aid boss John Rynne: 'The maps drawn in colonial times are starting to erode' - 29/11/2024 12:47
- 'They have nothing': Aid workers struggle to save lives at edge of war-torn Sudan - 29/11/2024 12:36
Random articles (all categories):
- UN: South Sudan rebels committed atrocities - 20/12/2014 11:39
- Abstract On Determinants Of Uptake And Utilization Of Reproductive Health Services Among Women Of Reproductive Age In South Sudan’s Public Health Facilities - 06/10/2023 00:09
- Parts of South Sudan barren, U.N. mission says - 25/02/2014 15:17
- UNSC delegation visits South Sudan to press for peace deal implementation - 18/11/2021 23:17
- تعيين 4 وزارء في الحكومة المركزية - 15/09/2008 17:10
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 58400 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22214 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21356 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 18880 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 17990 times