International community is willing to support South Sudan peace implementation: minister

January 14 (JUBA) - The international community is now willing to support the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, announced South Sudan government spokesperson on Monday.

Michael Makuei told reporters that the Troika countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Norway have positively responded to Juba call for support to the implementation process of the IGAD mediated peace agreement.

"They are positively responding and they are only waiting for us to avail them with our budget," Makuei said.

He stressed that the commitment that the peace partners have shown to signed deal and their efforts to create a conducive environment for its implementation have convinced them of their seriousness to reconcile.

Two days ago, SPLA-IO spokesperson Lam Paul Gabriel stated that the Joint Military Board (JMB) has decided to establish a pilot project for the for the troops’ cantonment and training in order to form the future unified national army.

He stressed they took this decision because the international community does not want to support the implementation of the security arrangements, so they decided to do what they can do to implement this crucial step of the pre-transitional arrangements.

Minister Makuei disclosed that his government has already prepared a budget of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) which will be inaugurated next May.

He added that only the security arrangements implementation requires around 60million U.S. dollars.

The JMB agreed to form 11 divisions of the army, 3 divisions for the national security and around 3 divisions for the national police including other organized units.

The Troika countries which supported the peace process showed some reservations and concerns over the revitalized peace agreement.

They particularly pointed to the flow and unfinished issues in the security arrangements and particularly the forces unification process which needs special attention.

(ST)