Alwaght-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed “profound disappointment” with the unsuccessful conclusion of peace talks in South Sudan, saying a negotiated settlement should be used rather than a military approach , as Press TV recorded.
Negotiations in Ethiopia between representatives of South Sudan’s warring parties aimed at putting an end to the civil war that has been going on in the country for 15 months have been suspended without a deal .
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on Friday that South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar missed a March 5 deadline to reach a peace agreement, and extension of the negotiations into the following day “did not produce the necessary breakthrough .”
In a statement later on Friday, the UN spokesperson office quoted Ban as saying that the parties failed to display diplomacy and reach an agreement on power-sharing arrangements .
He has reached out to all relevant parties and regional leaders over the past two days to call for the continuation of the negotiations, it added .
“He strongly urges both parties to refrain from any attempt to escalate the conflict and reiterates that there can be no military solution or alternative to a negotiated settlement,” the statement read .
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional bloc overseeing the talks, had brought together South Sudanese government and rebel delegations in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa to convince the two sides to settle issues, among them power sharing .
The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted a US-drafted resolution to impose sanctions on the two conflicting sides in South Sudan .
The security situation in South Sudan deteriorated steadily over the past year after the world’s youngest country plunged into chaos in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy, Riek Machar, around the capital, Juba .
The hostilities subsequently turned into a full-fledged conflict that left tens of thousands of people dead and forced almost two million people from their homes .
South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from Sudan .
