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The UN says 34,000 people
sought refuge at UN bases in three locations across the country [Reuters]
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Salva Kiir
sounds caution as UN says 20 feared dead after one of its compounds was stormed
by thousands of armed youths.
The president of South Sudan has
implored people to turn away from ethnic hatred and said that "the long
arm of the law" would find those who have killed during a week of
violence.
Salva Kiir's warning came on Friday as
the UN said 20 people from the ethnic Dinka group were feared killed during an
attack by thousands of armed youths from a different ethnic group on a UN
peacekeeping base in Jonglei state.
The ethnic Lou Nuer youths overran the
UN base in Akobo on Thursday, killing two Indian peacekeepers and fleeing
with arms, ammunition and other supplies, the UN peacekeeping mission
in South Sudan said in a statement.
The Dinka civilians killed had sought
refuge at the base.
Kiir did not speak publicly, but the
government's Twitter feed attributed this quote to him: "Those who
may want to take the law into their hands, the long arm of the government
will get them."
The president met with foreign
ministers from neighbouring states, including Kenya and Ethiopia, who flew
into Juba, the capital, to help calm tensions after a week of ethnic
strife that is estimated to have killed hundreds.
The United Nations said on Friday that
34,000 people continued to seek refuge at UN bases in three locations
across the country, including 20,000 at two bases in the capital.
The US embassy had a fifth emergency
evacuation flight on Friday to move Americans out of the country. British,
German and Dutch planes were also scheduled to fly out.
Hundreds of foreigners, including aid
workers, have hurriedly left South Sudan this week at warnings
from foreign embassies concerned about the possibility of
out-of-control violence.
Forty-five US troops were dispatched to
Juba earlier this week to protect US citizens and property.
Ethnic violence broke out among South
Sudan's presidential guard late on Sunday night, and fighting spread across the
country over the next several days, leading to fears of a civil war
between ethnic groups.
Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, earlier this
week said an attempted coup had triggered the violence, and the blame was
placed on fired Vice President Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer. But officials
have since said a fight between Dinka and Nuer members of the presidential
guard triggered the violence.
Machar's ousting from the
country's No. 2 political position earlier this year had stoked ethnic and
political tensions.
Army defection
One of the most worrying bouts of
violence this week was in Unity State, where much of South Sudan's oil is
located. Armed opposition groups appeared to be in control of some oil fields
in the state, the International Crisis Group told the AP news
agency.
South Sudan's oil fields
have historically been a target for rebel movements "raising concerns
that competition over resources could be a key driver of the unfolding
crisis," said Global Witness, a London-based group that investigates and
campaigns to prevent natural resource related conflict.
"The potential for oil wealth to
exacerbate the current power struggle should not be underestimated,"
Emma Vickers of Global Witness said on Friday.
"If rebel forces were to capture
the oil fields, they could effectively hold the government to
ransom."
South Sudan gets nearly 99 percent of
its government budget from oil revenues. The country reportedly earned
$1.3bn in oil sales in just five months this year, Global Witness said.
Source: http://www.aljazeera.com
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