After President Salva Kiir of South Sudan shocked rebels and observers by refusing to sign a peace deal the United States is proposing that the U.N. Security Council impose an arms embargo on the country.
The proposal was circulated shortly after Kiir told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call that he would sign the peace deal after "a couple of more days of consultation," according to Fox News. Rebel leader Riek Machar signed the deal Monday.
According to Reuters, the draft resolution circulated to the U.N. Security Council says that if U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports before Sept. 6 that both parties have signed the deal and implemented a ceasefire then the arms embargo and further targeted sanctions would not be implemented.
"We are trying to sharpen the choices that lie ahead for the leadership of South Sudan and make very plain that there is only once choice that is left to be made and that choice is the choice for peace and for security," said the senior diplomat, reports Reuters.
It was not clear whether all five permanent council members, including Russia and China, support the draft. "It's quite a technical resolution, so I think it will take quite a bit of work to get everyone on the same page," New Zealand Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen told reporters according to Fox News.
Oil-rich South Sudan has been at war since December 2013, in which Kiir's ethnic Dinka people are pitted against Machar's Nuer. The strife started when a split within the security forces in Juba escalated into a violent rebellion led by Machar, who commands the loyalty of some senior army officers and soldiers. More than 100,000 South Sudanese have since taken shelter in U.N. bases.
Kiir has "yet again squandered the opportunity to bring peace" to South Sudan, said US National Security Advisor Susan Rice, according to News24.
The deputy U.N. Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, told reporters that even if a South Sudan peace deal is reached, "It's going to be a very difficult implementation."
