Will the US sanction South Sudan's Kiir, Machar?

South Sudan

The United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy says all options to put pressure on individuals that derail peace efforts in South Sudan, are being considered.

‘‘This inability to meet their own deadline calls into question their suitability to continue to lead the nation’s peace process,’‘ Nagy said in a tweet on Thursday.

‘‘We must review our relationship with the government in light of the delay. The U.S. is considering all possible options to put pressure on those individuals who would impede peace and promote conflict.’‘

Nagy’s remarks followed the extension of a deadline to form a unity government by 100 days.

South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar on Thursday agreed to extend the formation of a power-sharing government, as determined by a peace deal signed last year in September.

The United States and other international allies have expressed their disappointment at the slow progress in implementation of the peace deal.

Two years after South Sudan attained independence, Kiir and his then vice-president fell out and the ensuing conflict has killed thousands and displaced millions of people.

Several mediators including the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, former Sudan president Omar Al-Bashir, Kenyan veteran politician Raila Odinga and the Pope have worked to reconcile the warring parties and resolve the conflict.

Under the peace deal signed last year in Khartoum, the different fighting forces were to be integrated and a unity government formed, in a bid to end the five-year conflict.