Uganda president issues stern warning to South Sudan opposition leader

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday warned the leader of South Sudan's opposition fighters against rejecting the government's offer of a cease-fire, saying regional leaders would unite to "defeat" the former vice president, who is accused of mounting a failed coup in the world's newest country. According to the United Nations, the violence in South Sudan has displaced up to 180,000 people since mid-December.

Museveni told reporters in Juba, the South Sudan capital, that a regional East African bloc called the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) had given opposition leader Riek Machar "four days to respond" to the cease-fire offer.

"If he (Machar) doesn't, we shall have to go for him, all of us," Musveni said, referring to IGAD. When pressed by a reporter on what he meant by "go for him," Museveni responded: “To defeat him."

A meeting of East African leaders last week said it "welcomed the commitment" by South Sudan's government to cease hostilities against opposition fighters, and urged both sides to start peace talks by Tuesday. Machar instead called for a negotiated cease-fire that includes a way to monitor compliance. 

Uganda's influence is strong in neighboring South Sudan, where Uganda has deployed special forces at the request of South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir. Museveni and Kiir are strong allies, and the Ugandan leader is believed to be concerned about the security implications for Uganda of a violent takeover of South Sudan's government. However, questions have been raised about the impartiality of Uganda as a possible mediator in a conflict that many fear could lead to civil war.

France's ambassador to the U.N. has said South Sudan's government has the right under international law to seek help from neighboring countries to defend itself.

"There is a government in South Sudan, which has the right to ask for another country to support its military efforts," said Gerard Araud, who is the U.N. Security Council president. 

For years the brutal warlord Joseph Kony, who once operated in the expansive jungle that now falls within South Sudan's territory, was a source of tension between Uganda and Sudan. Sudan's government faced persistent allegations of supporting Kony's rebellion against Uganda's government. Kony was forced to flee, and is thought to have fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo and then the Central African Republic as the south moved closer to independence from Sudan.

South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011 after a decades-long fight for independence, giving Uganda a new sense of border security. Uganda, one of the South's strongest supporters in its quest for independence, denies it has taken sides in South Sudan's latest conflict.

The U.N., South Sudan's government and other analysts say the dispute started as political but has since taken on ethnic overtones. The fighting has killed more than 1,000 people, according to the U.N.

Although Kiir insists the latest unrest was sparked by a coup mounted by soldiers loyal to Machar on Dec. 15,  the account has been disputed by some officials with the ruling party who say violence broke out when presidential guards from Kiir's majority Dinka tribe tried to disarm guards from the Nuer ethnic group of Machar.

South Sudan has been plagued by ethnic tension and a power struggle within the ruling party that appears to have escalated after Kiir sacked Machar as his deputy earlier this year. Machar has criticized Kiir as a dictator, and says he will contest the 2015 presidential election.

Col. Philip Aguer, the South Sudanese military spokesman, said Monday that — although there was "no major fighting" over the weekend — tension remained because "Machar has not committed himself to a cease-fire.”

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky, however, said there was heavy fighting Sunday in Malakal, the capital of the oil-producing state Upper Nile. He said that while Kiir's government remains in control, the U.N. mission reported "significant battle damage in the city and widespread looting," and that 22,000 civilians have taken shelter in a U.N. compound there.

Araud said that although both the government and Machar have stated their "availability for negotiations," both sides appear intent for now on gaining the upper hand militarily.

Meanwhile, the U.N. is scrambling to bolster its peacekeeping force in South Sudan from 8,000 troops and police to nearly 14,000, in part by transferring forces from missions in other vulnerable African countries.

Nesirky said 73 Bangladeshi police who had been serving in the U.N. Mission in Congo arrived in South Sudan last week, and Nepalese police serving in Liberia were expected to arrive later this week.

But U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who also briefed the Security Council on Monday, said the U.N. cannot meet its needs in South Sudan solely by transferring forces from other missions. He said the U.N. needs member states to contribute new troops and equipment, including a level 2 field hospital and tactical helicopters.

Wire services