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March 13, 2014 (ADDIS ABABA) – A regional assembly of heads of states and governments meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa Thursday authorised the prompt deployment of a Protection and Deterrent Force (PDF) from the region to help restore peace and stability in South Sudan.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni attends a session during the 25th Extraordinary Summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on South Sudan in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa March 13, 2014. (Photo Reuters//Tiksa Negeri)

The PDF, a communiqué issued during the 25th extraordinary session of the regional bloc (IGAD) stated, would operate with a clear mandate and operational guidelines as part of the IGAD Monitoring and Verification Mechanism in the country.

Regional leaders, however, called upon the United Nations Security Council and the African Union to provide all the necessary support, calling on the parties to ensure the progressive withdrawal of all armed groups and all allied forces invited by either side from the theatre of operations as per the ceasefire agreement, in accordance with its 31 January communiqué.

“(..) calls on all partners to redouble their efforts to support the robust Monitoring and Verification Mechanism and the deployment of the Protection and Deterrent Force (PDF) as part of the MVM to protect the latter and other infrastructures in South Sudan,” the communiqué obtained by Sudan Tribune partly reads.

The meeting was chaired Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn. Also in attendance was South Sudan’s Salva Kiir and his counterparts from Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia as well as the AU Commission chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The summit also lauded Uganda’s efforts in securing vital installations in South Sudan following the outbreak in the latter, while appreciating the strong and wide-ranging support extended to the IGAD-led mediation process from member states, development partners and the wider international community.

Uganda deployed a contingent of its army in South Sudan after violence erupted in the country, but has been under intense pressure from opposition forces to pull-out of new nation.

Both the United States and UN Security Council condemned the intervention of foreign forces in the South Sudan, saying it contravenec the 23 January ceasefire deal.

In his address to reporters following the return of Sudanese president, Omer Al-Bashir from the IGAD summit, the spokesperson for the presidency Eimad Sid Ahmed, the former had proposed during Thursday’s meeting that all foreign troops pull out from South Sudan.

The President, Sid Ahmed said, “reiterated the need to withdraw these forces in order to achieve peace and facilitate the solution.”

Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia had previously opposed to the presence of Ugandan troops in the new nation with the latter saying their presence threatens regional peace and stability.

WELCOMES AU INQUIRY

Meanwhile, regional leader at Thursday’s summit have welcomed the AU’s establishment of a Commission of Inquiry headed by ex-Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo to investigate alleged human rights violations and crime committed during the violence in South Sudan.

The formation of the five-member body, they said, marks the beginning of a genuine process of accountability, reconciliation, and healing in South Sudan in line with the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC) Communiqué of 30th December 2013 in Banjul, Gambia.

The IGAD summit, however, urged the parties to cooperate with the AU to expeditiously operationalise the Commission of Inquiry while calling on the international community to fully support the AU-led initiative.
(ST)