According to TVC NEWS, U.S. President Barack Obama says
feuding South Sudan factions may face extra pressure to end their conflict if a
peace deal is not reached by August 17th.
The crisis between troops loyal to
President Salva Kiir and rebels commanded by Riek Machar erupted in December
2013.
The United States and European Union
have already imposed sanctions on individual commanders from both sides.
Obama, in Ethiopia on a two-nation
Africa tour, met regional African leaders on Monday in Addis Ababa to discuss
the conflict.
A U.S. official said sanctions or
other penalties could be considered if the two sides failed to reach a peace
deal by an Aug. 17 deadline. Previous deadlines have been ignored, deepening
the crisis in the world's newest nation.
"If we don't see a breakthrough
by the 17th, then we have to consider what other tools we have to apply greater
pressure on the parties," Obama told a news conference with Ethiopian
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who has hosted peace talks.
Obama acknowledged efforts to end
the conflict by IGAD, a regional African grouping that has mediated and which
includes Ethiopia, but said the "the situation continues to
deteriorate."
Hailemariam recognised that
negotiations had rumbled along for a long time. "The people are suffering
on the ground and we cannot let this go on," he said, adding Monday's
meeting with regional leaders should send a "strong signal" to the
rivals.
IGAD states threatened sanctions in
the past, but did not act on them and more recently said such steps would not
help.
Western diplomats have pressed the
region to put more pressure on the South Sudanese for a deal, saying regional
measures were more likely to have an impact on leaders.
The United States, Britain and
Norway were among the main Western states that sponsored South Sudan when it
seceded in 2011 from Sudan. The southerners had fought Sudan's government for
decades, but had also often battled each other.
Those at the talks also include
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Sudanese Foreign
Minister Ibarahim Ghandour and the African Union's Dlamini Zuma.
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