Addis Ababa (AFP) - South Sudan's warring leaders must resume stalled peace talks in earnest before the months-long bloody conflict is written off as an international lost cause, a senior AU official warned on Monday.
"They have to realise that the world is watching them, that the world will not wait for them indefinitely," said Olusegun Obasanjo, the head of an African Union team probing atrocities in the war-torn country.
Thousands have been killed and more than 1.5 million people forced to flee as a political row between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar has spiralled into brutal ethnic conflict.
The world's newest nation is facing a worse crisis than during the two decades of war before South Sudan declared independence three years ago, with some 100,000 people crammed into squalid UN camps.
Aid agencies warn the country could plunge into famine in weeks with almost four million people in need of aid if international donors do not make up a shortfall of over a billion dollars.
Peace talks in luxury hotels in Addis Ababa have made little progress and last month the negotiations halted indefinitely, with both sides refusing to attend the discussions.
[1]South Sudan President Salva Kiir walks to a waiting airplane as he leaves Juba on June 25, 2014 to a …
Former Nigerian president Obasanjo, who is heading up an AU probe to investigate atrocities in South Sudan following reports both sides have committed gross human rights violations, urged reconciliation.
"The alternative to talking is for them to go into violence again, so we must encourage them to keep talking," he said.
The regional mediating bloc, IGAD, has given both sides until August 11 to form an interim government, a deadline that looks unlikely to be met after a third ceasefire was recently broken.
Without meaningful talks, "anything can happen, there can be outbreak (of violence) and the outbreak can snowball".
Two mass graves had so far been discovered, he said, with reports of further burial sites in oil-rich Bentiu and Bor, which have been the scenes of heavy fighting between the Dinka people loyal to Kiir and Machar's Nuer tribe.
Obasanjo urged leaders to focus on political reform, arguing that justice is a crucial first step towards ending the conflict.
"The first thing that you have to do to reconcile people is to ensure that theres an element of justice," he said.
- Politics & Government
- Unrest, Conflicts & War
- South Sudan
- Olusegun Obasanjo
- Riek Machar
References
- ^ South Sudan President Salva Kiir walks to a waiting … (news.yahoo.com)
Source http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-leaders-told-talk-famine-looms-173019771.html
Newer articles:
- Nothing to celebrate as South Sudan marks independence - 08/07/2014 05:15
- On the Edge: Aid Groups Predict Famine in South Sudan - 08/07/2014 01:46
- South Sudan President Launches Juba Airport Renovation Project - 07/07/2014 22:00
- Sudan visit makes Keira Knightley emotional - 07/07/2014 22:00
- South Sudan Official Orders Curfew Violators to be Shot Dead - 07/07/2014 20:28
Older news items
- South Sudan faces severe food shortages as conflict escalates - 07/07/2014 17:48
- Hilde Johnson: South Sudan at a crossroads - 07/07/2014 15:44
- South Sudan: Heavy Rains, Ongoing Violence Push Country Towards 'Hunger Catastrophe', Warns UN Agency - 07/07/2014 15:15
- Sudan inflation hits 45.3 pct in June - 07/07/2014 12:00
- South Sudan president appeals for African solution to end conflict - 07/07/2014 05:52
Latest news items (all categories):
- South Sudan Opens 14 Oil Blocks, Courts Investors Ahead of SSOP 2026 - 26/10/2026 15:08
- Jambojet Explores South Sudan Expansion After Talks with Juba Regulator - 26/10/2026 15:05
- Kiir swears in 5 officials ahead of South Sudan elections - 26/10/2026 14:53
- South Sudan cattle battles leaves 10 dead: official - 26/10/2026 14:49
- Churches urge world 'not to forget South Sudan' ahead of first elections - 26/10/2026 14:47
Random articles (all categories):
- In Good Memory - 11/09/2007 02:30
- Dr. Peter Adwok Nyaba Resignation letter from SPLM - 05/06/2014 10:05
- 700 LDUs to be deployed along Uganda-South Sudan border – Brig. Gen Kabongo - 11/05/2020 04:48
- This land of milk and honey is ours - 05/05/2016 00:18
- Situation 'grim' in parts of South Sudan - 04/01/2012 18:28
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 151298 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 28390 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 25496 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 24701 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 22676 times
