Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni visited South Sudan’s capital, Juba, on Thursday to engage in talks with South Sudanese officials amid rising concerns of a renewed civil war. The United Nations has expressed alarm following the house arrest of the main opposition leader, Riek Machar. Museveni, a guarantor of the 2018 peace agreement that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war, held closed-door discussions with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir.
South Sudan’s Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abdallah Goc, assured Museveni that the country’s leadership remains committed to fully implementing the peace agreement. However, South Sudan’s political landscape remains fragile, with escalating violence between government forces and opposition-aligned armed groups.
Uganda’s recent troop deployment to South Sudan to support the government has drawn criticism from South Sudan’s opposition party, SPLM-IO, especially since Machar is under house arrest on charges of incitement. Earlier in March, Machar-loyal armed forces attacked a UN helicopter in northern Upper Nile State while it was evacuating government troops.
In response to the rising tensions, several Western countries, including Germany and Norway, have temporarily closed their embassies in Juba, while the US and the UK have scaled back their diplomatic presence.
Source: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2595903/middle-east