The German foreign office on Saturday announced the temporarily closure of its South Sudan Embassy in Juba, citing risk in return to civil war.
In a statement posted on social media, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced the decision was arrived during to safety of employees and urge the county’s top leadership to engage in positive dialogue.
“After years of fragile peace, South Sudan is once again on the brink of civil war,”
“President Kiir and Vice President Machar are plunging the country into a spiral of violence. They have a responsibility to stop the senseless violence and finally implement the peace agreement,” Baerbock continued.
Kiir and Machar agreed to form a transitional government after a 2018 peace deal, with Machar as vice president, that arrangement looks perilously close to failing with each parties accusing each other of violations.
The U.S. State Department issued an advisory on March 8 citing political tensions and the widespread availability of weapons in South Sudan but the Government downplayed urging there was calm.
For the better part of this month, a militia from the Nuer ethnic group, to which Machar belongs, has been fighting government soldiers on the border with Ethiopia, and the army accuses Machar’s party of fueling the conflict, while Machar accuses Kiir of wanting to depose his supporters.
While the fighting is more than 1,300 kilometers (about 800 miles) from the capital, the sparks threaten to spread to other parts of the country. Warring parties in neighboring Sudan are also threatening to intervene.
German diplomats, together with representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Great Britain, the USA, and the EU, have offered to mediate between Kiir and Machar.
