John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State has on Monday stressed the need for a regional protection force for South Sudan.
He said in Nairobi after meeting his counterparts from Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan that it would not violate the country’s sovereignty.
Kerry stressed the need to move forward with the deployment of a regional protection force.
He noted that the UN Security Council has authorised the deployment of a 4,000-member regional protection force to strengthen the 13,500-strong UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, but President Salva Kiir’s government rejected the plan.
“This is not an intervention force, this is a protection force, with a very clear mandate” to make sure citizens can move freely and to protect them from attacks.
Kerry noted that that the military conflict pitting Kiir against his former deputy Riek Machar has killed tens of thousands and displaced about 2.5 million people.
“The leaders of South Sudan have to live up to their responsibilities” and to “refrain from violent and provocative acts.