IGAD strongly condemns violation of recent peace agreement by S. Sudanese parties

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers on Friday strongly condemned the violations of the agreement signed by South Sudan's warring factions on Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian Access.

Workneh Gebeyehu in a statement expressed his "deep concern and disappointment over the violations of the agreement" that was signed by South Sudanese warring factions in Ethiopia's capital last Thursday.

"The Chairperson of the IGAD Council of Ministers strongly condemns the violations of the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities, demands an immediate end to all forms of hostilities; and calls upon all the parties who violate the Agreement to come to their senses," read the statement.

According to the statement, the current violations of the agreement, few days after it's signing, "undermine the genuine efforts of the international community who are tirelessly and jointly working to help South Sudanese Parties to address the root causes of the conflict through an all-inclusive dialogue that would pave the way for national reconciliation; and the building of effective State institutions through a democratic process."

Regional and international actors such as the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), and the coalition of three western countries (Troika) were calling for full and effective implementation of the agreement upon the signing of the ceasefire agreement last week.

"The Chairperson of the IGAD Council of Ministers expresses its firm position to hold all violators accountable in accordance with the resolutions of the 28th Extra-ordinary Summit of the IGAD Heads of State and Government of 24 November 2014 and any other provisions of International Law," the statement stressed.

The chairperson further called upon the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM), working in collaboration with UNMISS, to monitor the situation on the ground without any delay and immediately report its findings on which party is responsible for the violations. Enditem