South Sudan 'Cannot Protect Peace With Sticks,' Country's FM on UN Arms Embargo

South Sudan's army cannot ensure the country's security "with sticks" and needs weaponry despite the UN arms embargo on the state, the state's Foreign Minister James Pitia Morgan told Sputnik Africa in an exclusive interview.

"The arms embargo made it very difficult for us to get arms to give it to them [soldiers incorporated into the national army]. And in that sense, they cannot protect peace by using sticks. They have to protect peace by being given firearms so that the territorial integrity of South Sudan is secured. And then also the peace itself is protected," the minister said.

In 2013, an internal conflict broke out in South Sudan between the country's President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, who was accused by Kiir of attempting a coup. The parties tried to sign a ceasefire agreement on several occasions.

However, Kiir and Machar concluded a peace deal only in 2020, according to which the first democratic elections in South Sudan were planned for 2023. But in 2022, the deadline was moved to late 2024.

Following the peace agreement, a national unity government was established and Machar became the first vice president of the country. In 2022, Kiir and Machar recommitted to the peace deal and agreed to integrate their rival forces under a unified command.

The country has been under UN sanctions and arms embargo since 2018, which includes asset freezes and travel bans. In May, these punitive measures were extended for one more year.

Speaking about the embargo prolongation, which Russia has long opposed, the top diplomat noted that the African country appreciated the Russian support on the issue.

"First of all, as my president said, we always appreciate the stance of the Russian leadership and the support of the Russian people for the people of South Sudan in the issue of this arms embargo and the sanctions that were imposed on the new nation on Earth," he stressed.

Morgan recalled that Kiir called on the UN General Assembly last week to lift the restrictions.

"The call for the lifting of the arms embargo is one of the series of lifting of other sanctions in the country. And my president made it very clear during our visit to New York, during his speech in the UN General Assembly, that lifting of sanctions was now necessary because we have gone through all the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement. And now that we are almost getting to the end of the agreement. When the agreement implementation ended last time, we had a roadmap, which was to take us another 24 months before we go for general elections," the foreign minister emphasized.

In addition, the top diplomat underlined the importance of removing the arms embargo, saying that it hinders the completion of the peace agreement implementation "in the areas, where integrated forces, from the previous combatants, who were fighting [government], are trained" but with which the country "have to work together," according to the agreement.

"And that is what we agreed. We have to work together with these groups. They have to be trained together with our soldiers, and then they have to be deployed jointly with the new mandate. And that mandate now is to protect the peace itself and also to protect the territorial integrity of South Sudan. That is now a mandate given to the new forces, which now includes our own forces," he explained.

At the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the South Sudanese leader urged the UN Security Council to lift an arms embargo imposed on the country in 2018. He said the ban was hampering security arrangements.

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Morgan also highlighted that the arms ban hampers the African state to maintain security during the upcoming elections.

"And as we go for elections, also, these forces are required in order to protect and help the elections to be carried out in a cordial and also peaceful, conducive environment that will allow every citizen of South Sudan to participate fully in this coming elections. And that needs protection. And that is why my president was calling for the UN Security Council to not continue on this arms embargo or else continuing doing that will also work negatively towards peace," the foreign minister underscored.

Another reason to lift the embargo, according to the top diplomat, is that, given the ongoing armed clashes in neighboring Sudan, "some wrong elements [may] infiltrate in South Sudan."

"Number two, in our neighborhood our neighbors in the north, which is in Sudan, there's a war going on in Sudan. And in that war, there's a sense of seeing it spilling over when the borders of Sudan are now broken and there is no presence of security to protect the borders of Sudan. That can also allow some wrong elements to infiltrate in South Sudan and could also cause the same problems in South Sudan. So that is why the president made that call, so that South Sudan can be able to protect itself from other invaders," Morgan noted.

In April, an armed conflict erupted between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The epicenter of the violent clashes is in the country's capital, Khartoum.

Apart from the potential "invaders" from Sudan, Morgan mentioned that there are other "terrorists," and "extremists" that pose a threat to the African country.

"The world we are living in today is a world that is in fact created by wrong groups. We have terrorists. We have extremists. We have all kinds of people roaming around. And this kind of people seeking for where they can find it, soft targets so that they can settle there. If South Sudan is not protected. This kind of people can be able to infiltrate in South Sudan, and it will be very difficult," the foreign minister stressed.

In particular, the top diplomat cited the Nigerian terroristic organization Boko Haram and territories without state control, so-called "no man's zones" in the Sahel region, as possible menaces for South Sudan.

"Boko Haram, for example, the Boko Haram are not far from South Sudan. South Sudan is not far from the areas which are known as Sahel region. The Sahel region is a place of [what] we call the no man's zone. And when the place becomes a no man's zone, it can become an easy settlement area for these kind of extremist groups. So South Sudan is calling for the UN Security Council to lift this unwarranted arms embargo imposed on the new nation so that the new nation can be able to protect itself from these kind of things that we are seeing coming," Morgan concluded.