http://www.sunherald.com/2014/05/06/5551762/us-sanctions-both-sides-in-south.html
US sanctions both sides in South Sudan conflict
BY BY DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press May 6, 2014 Updated 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. on Tuesday issued sanctions against two individuals
on either side of the deadly conflict in South Sudan that has killed
thousands of people and forced more than 1.3 million from their homes in
the world's newest nation.
The Treasury Department announced the sanctions against Peter Gadet, who
defected from the South Sudan's military and is accused of leading
anti-government forces in an April 17 attack that left more than 200
civilians dead. Also sanctioned was Marial Chanuong, commander of the South
Sudanese government's presidential guard force, who is accused of leading
violent attacks against civilians in the capital city of Juba.
These individuals are responsible for "perpetrating unthinkable violence
against civilians," Secretary of State John Kerry said at the State
Department.
For the United States, instability in South Sudan is not just another
example of a weak African state struggling to deal with political
infighting, poverty and fighting between the military and rebel groups.
South Sudan is a largely Christian nation that broke off from the
Muslim-dominated Sudan after a 2011 referendum. The fighting is an
embarrassment to the U.S., which has provided hundreds of millions of
dollars in aid and has been its strongest international champion.
Kerry just returned from Africa, where he urged peace talks in South Sudan
and threatened the sanctions in an effort to end months of killing.
Violence has rocked the country since December, when President Salva Kiir
accused former Vice President Riek Machar of staging a coup. Machar denies
the accusation and said the government is trying to root out political
opponents.
Kerry said he spoke earlier Tuesday with the prime minister of Ethiopia and
discussed a possible face-to-face meeting, perhaps as early as this week,
between Kir and Machar.
"We're very hopeful that that can be the beginning of a dialogue," Kerry
said. "We will do our upmost to prevent South Sudan from plunging back into
the violence and despair that tore that country apart for so long."
Associated Press Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
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Received on Tue May 06 2014 - 16:31:54 EDT