UN urges halt to South Sudan fighting and 4,000 new troops
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UNITED NATIONS- The U.N. Security Council is calling for a halt to fighting in South Sudan and swift deployment of a new contingent of 4,000 peacekeepers to boost the existing U.N. force in the conflict-wracked African nation.
The U.N.'s most powerful body backed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' political efforts to reinvigorate peace efforts in order to prevent a deterioration of the security situation and beef up the 12,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force.
The council statement, which also urged access for humanitarian aid, followed a closed-door meeting Monday between the 15 council members and the top monitor of South Sudan's peace deal, former Botswana President Festus Mogae.
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said "there is the threat of continued violence" in the world's newest nation which a U.N. official has warned "could slip into genocide."
