UN denies arming rebels in South Sudan

Hilde Johnson, Head, UN Mission to South
Sudan, on Thursday denied allegations that the
mission was arming and supporting rebels in the
conflict and pitting them against government troops.
She said in Juba that UN investigation committee
had confirmed that the weapons convoy seized by
the government in the central Lakes State in early
March was not destined for the rebels.
Johnson said that the weapons were meant for
Ghanaian peacekeepers.
The suspicion came about because the weapons
were being  transported by road, contrary to the UN
policy of transporting all peacekeeping weaponry by
air and with government consent.
Also some of the trucks in the convoy were labelled
as construction and general goods.
The discovery of the weapons prompted the South
Sudanese government to order that all UN and
humanitarian agency vehicles be subjected to
security check.
Johnson said that the UN mission had said the
policy breaches were errors, and that there was no
intention of aiding the rebels.
She also denied government allegations that the UN
had sheltered rebel soldiers in some of its bases,
where tens of thousands of people fleeing the
fighting have sought shelter.
“The UN has the obligation to protect any civilian
seeking refuge on its premises, including elements
from both sides of the conflict,” she said.
The UN has about 8,000 peacekeepers in South
Sudan, where a power struggle between President
Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar
turned violent in mid-December.
A cease fire signed in January failed to quell the
hostilities. Thousands of people have been killed in
the conflict with nearly a million people displaced.