[ad_1]
An old rivalry between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Riek Machar is behind the civil war in southern Sudan – a conflict that has been going on for years.
But Pope Francis asked the two leaders at war to end their differences this week when the Vatican made the unusual decision to welcome the two men and other leaders of South Sudan as part of the A spiritual retreat to end the violence.
On Thursday, the pontiff called Kiir and Machar to advance, leaning to kiss their feet while he asked them to "stay in peace".
"There will be a lot of problems, but they will not overcome us. Solve your problems, " Reuters reported it as saying. Francis also asked them to keep their disagreements "in you, in the office, so to speak."
"But before the people, hold hands together," he said. "Thus, as ordinary citizens, you will become the fathers of the nation."
The meeting created a striking scene: one of the most powerful religious leaders in the world bent over the feet of two men responsible for a conflict that may have killed 383,000 people. The war in South Sudan broke out in December 2013 after tensions between Kiir and Machar escalated. Soon, troops loyal to everyone shot at each other in the capital, Juba. It quickly turned into an ethnic-fueled conflict and spread to the entire country, which only two years ago had secured the independence of its neighbor from the north, Sudan.
After years of fighting for the liberation of Khartoum, the South Sudanese had little time to savor peace before the beginning of the last conflict. Since the end of 2013, millions of people have been displaced from their homes, some are victims of man-made starvation and many are still hungry. More than a million people have fled the border into Uganda, causing one of the world's largest refugee crises and carrying with them stories of rape, disease and famine.
Observers doubted that a brief summit in the Vatican could help both leaders implement the latest version of a peace deal they have been negotiating for years.
Payton Knopf, a former member of the UN expert group on South Sudan, said Payton Knopf. "It would literally take a miracle of God for Riek and Salva to be part of the solution here."
The ongoing conflict has made it difficult to document the death toll in South Sudan. But a study funded by the State Department published last year revealed that more than 380,000 people would probably have died.
Concern over how a solution to the crisis could be negotiated increased this week when the Sudanese army overthrew the country's long-time president, Omar Hbadan al-Bashir, after months of street protests. . Bashir helped mediate conversations between Machar and Kiir, who signed another deal in September, raising fears that his early departure would tip the current peace process.
Alan Boswell, senior badyst at International Crisis Group, wrote on Twitter that Bashir's departure means that, in the short term, "there is no mediator".
"More clearly than ever, it is now up to Kiir and Machar to advance the peace agreement," wrote Boswell.
It will be difficult to see what the ouster of Bashir means for the peace agreement with South Sudan. The Sudanese army has announced plans to suspend the constitution and run the country for two years, but protesters remain on the ground, demanding a civilian government.
What does this mean for the southern neighbor of the country?
During the civil war in southern Sudan, "the international community was distracted enough this morning," Knopf said, referring to Sudan's military takeover on Thursday. "It will be even more distracting now. And international distraction is why Salva and Riek managed to escape [with extreme violence] for years."
Read more
Five crises: Sudanese president survives before mbad demonstrations lead to his fall
Omar Hbadan al-Bashir, a Sudanese, is ousted by the army after 30 years in power
New report estimates more than 380,000 people died in South Sudan civil war
Source link
