New York, February 24, 2015 (SSNA) — The United States is circulating a draft United Nations Security Council resolution aims to put pressure on South Sudan’s warring factions, including individuals who stand in the way of achieviing peace in the volatile young nation.
The warning comes as the future of peace talks of the violence-wracked country looks uncertain.
This is not the first time the United States government threatened South Sudan with sanctions.
In November of 2014, the U.S. imposed sanctions against both South Sudanese government and rebel military Generals. The US also warned South Sudan in December in the same year that looming UN sanctioins were coming if a peaceful solution to the conflcit is not reached.
The US said the current draft is a first step and that further tougher sanctions will follow if peace negotiations fail to meet dateline set by the East African regional bloc, IGAD.
The proposal appears to prefer council-managed sanctions.
It has been revealed that China, Russia, European Union (EU), and other countries initially support tougher punishments against South Sudan including an arms embargo.
“Certainly, we would support an arms embargo," UK Ambassador to the United Nations Mark Lyall Grant told reporters.
It has emerged, however, that the United States was against an arms embargo against South Sudan’s government, saying sanctions could favor rebel forces.
On January 26, 2015, the US-based foreign policy magazine published an article which directly linked the U.S. national security advisor Susan Rice to Washington’s inaction on UN sanctions against Juba. The magazine also asserted that the US Secretary of State John Kerry and United States Ambassador to United Nations Samantha Power support tougher sanctions against South Sudan.
The Republic of South Sudan is in the midst of raging civil war after fighting erupted in Mid-December of 2013.