South Sudan: UN Admits 'Mistake' In Landmine Row

The UN launches an investigation on Wednesday into an incident in South Sudan in which a 12-truck UN food convoy was found to be carrying weapons.

The discovery prompted hundreds of South Sudanese young men to march through the capital Juba in protest.

Anti-UN sentiment began growing in South Sudan in January when President Salva Kiir described the world body as a "parallel government" in his country.

DW: This is not the first time the South Sudanese government has accused your organization engaging in activities contrary to its mandate. What do you have to say to such accusations?

Ariane Quentier: We have been making a mistake and we have said so. What happened was that there was an error in labeling and packing the belongings of the Ghanaian contingent, which was coming to reinforce the current troop deployment in South Sudan. This mistake in labeling and packing led to an error in transporting the goods. This was an error because according to the agreement we've made with the government, we have to transport all hazardous goods - and that applies to weapons and ammunition - by air. Because of this mistake in labeling, the containers ended up being transported by road.

Again, it is a very, very regrettable mistake. We want to have an investigation. We have a high level delegation arriving from New York tomorrow (12.03.2014) for this investigation which will be conducted with the South Sudanese government. We want to clarify the circumstances of this regrettable matter - and this as soon as possible.

I'd like to add something. There were no landmines in the trucks and the containers that were transporting the goods of the Ghanaians. What were (allegedly) pictures of landlines, were, in fact, showing canisters for masks or respirators.

How would you describe your relationship with the government of South Sudan?

We have a working relationship with the government of South Sudan. We do understand that the error we have made is a very sensitive one in a very sensitive context. That is the reason why we immediately apologized and indicated that this was a mistake, a very regrettable mistake. We are currently discussing with the government, we are looking forward to having a common investigation, a joint investigation with the government.