US ally of Kiir denounces South Sudan president

By Joan Pounds

United States National Security Advisor Susan Rice, long regarded as a key backer of the South Sudan government, denounced President Salva Kiir on Thursday and challenged the legitimacy of his rule.

The South Sudan head of state as well as rebel leader Riek Machar "and their cronies are personally responsible for this new war and self-inflicted disaster," Ms Rice declared on the occasion of the ravaged country's fourth anniversary of independence.

She was speaking via a video message released by the White House on the occasion of South Sudan's independence anniversary.

It breaks my heart to see what South Sudan has become today," Ms Rice lamented.

She recalled attending the 2011 independence celebrations in Juba with her 13-year-old son.

I remember the hope and unity of that day — the promise of a new beginning for you, who had suffered so much and persevered for so long," Ms Rice continued in comments directed to the people of South Sudan. "Four years later, those happy memories are a horrifying reminder of all that has been lost."

The key White House advisor to President Barack Obama had earlier acted as an influential outside advocate in pressing the Bush administration to support an independent South Sudan.

The United States did invest considerable diplomatic and financial resources in helping engineer the 2005 agreement that resulted in the breakup of Sudan and creation of a new state with its capital in Juba.

Appalling crimes

As a leading member of the Obama administration,Ms Rice had reportedly favoured a soft approach toward the government headed by Mr Kiir.

She resisted appeals from US allies as well as from Secretary of State John Kerry and Washington's UN Ambassador Samantha Power to support an arms embargo against South Sudan, according to a report last January in the online journal Foreign Policy.

That story added, "An arms embargo, Rice believes, would undermine a democratically elected government’s ability to defend itself against an insurgency led by Kiir’s former vice-president, Riek Machar."

But in her comments on Thursday, Ms Rice is unsparing in her criticisms of both belligerents.

The government and rebels are committing appalling crimes against innocent women, children, and the elderly," she declares. "And only leaders on both sides can end this violence. Yet, President Kiir and Riek Machar would rather haggle over personal power and wealth than agree on solutions."

Ms Rice also charged that "the government has abdicated its responsibilities, failed to protect its citizens and squandered its legitimacy.

Rather than negotiating an end to the 19-month-long civil war, Mr Kiir's administration "has subverted democracy and unilaterally extended its mandate," she said.

The statement also contained a warning that the conflict "threatens to destabilise the wider region."

Ms Rice pledged that "the United States will not abandon the people of South Sudan and their right to live freely and at peace in their own country. We will continue to stand with all those who dream of a better tomorrow.