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UN chief urges South Sudanese gov't to sign peace deal before 15-day deadline

Xinhua, August 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Tuesday expressed his strong hope that South Sudanese President Salva Kiir would sign a peace agreement with rebels by within 15 days.

Kiir on Monday refused to sign the agreement which aims to bring peace to the world's youngest country and called for a 15-day extension, despite the Aug. 17 deadline set by the international community.

Rebel leader Riek Machar, South Sudan's former vice president, however, signed the accord Monday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, mediated by the regional bloc Inter-Governmental Authority for Development in Africa (IGAD).

Pagan Amum, the secretary general of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement, also signed the deal, not representing the government, but a group of senior leaders arrested when the war in South Sudan broke out but later released.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Ban thanked IGAD "for its tireless efforts to assist the parties to reach agreement," saying the UN would continue to help finalize the agreement.

Violence broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 between supporters of Kiir and Machar, two years after the country was founded in July 2011. The conflict has left thousands dead and two million displaced.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 4.6 million South Sudanese are suffering from severe food shortages.

Ban said he was "deeply pained by the horrendous suffering of South Sudanese civilians."

He called on "all belligerents to immediately cease all hostilities, uphold international human rights and humanitarian law, and extend their full cooperation to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)."

So far, multiple efforts made by IGAD, the United Nations, the African Union, China and the troika of Britain, Norway and the United States have failed to bring peace to South Sudan. Endi