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A CEASEFIRE BETWEEN South Sudan’s government and rebels was due to come into effect today, following a deal to end a brutal five-month war that has pushed the country to the brink of genocide and famine.
President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, a former vice president, met in the Ethiopian capital yesterday, shook hands and prayed together, and “agreed that immediately all hostile activities will stop within 24 hours”.
The rivals “agreed that a transition government offers the best chance to the people of South Sudan” with the promise of fresh elections for the world’s youngest nation, said Seyoum Mesfin, head mediator with the East African regional bloc IGAD.
Both sides also “agreed to open humanitarian corridors… and to cooperate with the UN” to ensure aid is delivered to the more than five million people in need, he added.
Military officials from both sides said frontlines appeared to be quiet ahead of the deadline to implement the truce.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, left, and rebel leader Riek Machar, right, shake hands and pray before signing an agreement of the cease-fire of the conflict in South Sudan [Elias Asmare/AP/Press Association Images]
The peace deal, which followed intense lobbying from world leaders and Washington slapping sanctions on senior military commanders, came amid new reports of war crimes committed by both sides and fears that a wave of ethnic killings could result in genocide.
The war has claimed thousands — and possibly tens of thousands — of lives, with more than 1.2 million people forced to flee their homes.
Aid agencies are warning that South Sudan is now on the brink of Africa’s worst famine since the 1980s.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in South Sudan earlier this month to push for peace, said the “agreement to immediately stop the fighting in South Sudan and to negotiate a transitional government could mark a breakthrough.”
“The hard journey on a long road begins now and the work must continue,” Kerry said in a statement, urging “both leaders to take immediate action now to ensure that this agreement is implemented in full and that armed groups on both sides adhere to its terms.”
‘Mammoth aid effort’ needed
South Sudanese army spokesman Philip Aguer told AFP that the truce appeared to already be in place.
“As far as the information I have there are not any skirmishes today. The rebels are under Riek Machar and it was Riek Machar who declared war against the government,” he said, adding however that he feared “other forces not under the control of Riek Machar.”
British aid agency Oxfam, one of a handful of aid agencies working in worst-affected areas of the country, said the deal was a “timely breakthrough after months of dashed hopes.”
“Civilians caught up in this bloody conflict need to have full confidence that they can return to their homes without fear of violence,” said Cecilia Millan, head of Oxfam in South Sudan.
“They need to get back to their fields to plant their crops as soon as possible or they will lose the chance of feeding their families in the coming months,” she added, saying the country still needed a “mammoth aid effort”.
UN rights chief Navi Pillay said the two leaders must “stop the killing, before the fire they have ignited makes the entire country go down in flames”.
Pillay, a former head of the UN genocide court for Rwanda, said she recognised “many of the precursors of genocide” listed in a UN report on atrocities that was released during the week.
These included hate radio urging rape and “attacks on civilians in hospitals, churches and mosques, even attacks on people sheltering in UN compounds — all on the basis of the victims’ ethnicity”.
Amnesty
Testimonies in a report this week by Amnesty International describe civilians including children executed by the side of the road “like sheep” and other victims “grotesquely mutilated” with their lips sliced off.
The conflict, which started as a personal rivalry between Kiir and Machar, has seen the army and communities divide along ethnic lines, pitting members of Kiir’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Nuer.
The war broke out on December 15 with Kiir accusing Machar of attempting a coup. Machar then fled to the bush to launch a rebellion, insisting that the president had attempted to carry out a bloody purge of his rivals.
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I cant even get 3G coverage with Vodafone
Cant even get 2G
Why❓…Is the rollout of 4G so predominant in the south/east of the country❗️
O2 need to wake up…. €50 a month and I don’t get 4G? Definitely switching when my contract ends.
Three Ireland initially announced they would be rolling out 4G in August. Still nothing. Their PR tactic on this has been to ignore ignore ignore. Very annoying.
They’ve announced January now – press statement last week.
Three announced it will be end of January now, yes they have handled it really badly, they told me in July it would be end of August
Three are a disgrace, the product , the service, the customer service. They are a shambles. You no longer can use the hotspot feature with three, they also restrict Internet sites that can be viewed with other providers. Back to Vodafone when my contract expires
Since when can’t you use or make a hotspot with 3? I’m getting fast download speed through my phone lately, lately being in the last hour. What sites are blocked? Maybe you just have to provide proof of age for porn sites
Known Three they’ll offer 4G service for 20euro a month but give you a 500mb cap, worst operator in Ireland, worst customer service in the world, absolutely appalling and mentally draining to deal with them!
Nah that’s meteor, john, in March when their 4G offer runs out and they charge €30
Go into play store and download hotspot vpn shield that Will sort out Your blocked sites.
Lashes you can get those sites unblocked just call and you will need to email them proof of your age
I have to say I received the worst customer service I have ever had in my life from three. It’s based in India and they have no idea how to deal with customers here. I was driving my kids to school running late and made the mistake of taking a call. I was ordered to pull over to the side of the road to discuss the two euro I owed them and they got nasty when I told them the colour of sh&te. I had three months of that BS. Then they held my number to ransom when I tried to move. No support in Ireland until you leave and then they beg you. Total rubbish unless you like customer abuse.
Just rang Vodafone and was told my price plan doesnt support it. 5 years of being a bill pay user, average monthly bill is 115 euro ( use my mobile alot for work). Will start shopping around I think…
If your average bill is that and it’s for work might work asking them for a better deal especially if it’s a business account you have. That’s mega bucks to be charged.
Meteor & Emobile 4G is a joke
Don’t know where they are going with 4G – 2G would be a start
Patrick I’ve been using meteor 4g, I have to say its excellent, I got 49 down the other day, but the average has been around 30 down. But I’ll be switching to three 4g when it arrives, ya can’t beat their all you can eat data
Any idea of the upload speed with 4g?
Where I am now is ok, 27.54 down, 16.63 up with meteor
Deadly. Nice 1. Cheers Perthy
Ha!, I doubt you’ll get all you can eat data when they roll out their 4G!
How many minutes to exceed your monthly download allowance?
It’s hardly across Ireland….
It is, it goes from one side to the other
Cool. If it is as good as their current 3G service, many people in the country will continue to happily experience inability to make calls or ever hear the other person on the line because one bar on the phone is the limit of happiness for some of us the unfortunate who were foolish enough to make a contract with them.
Not available on Pay as you Go.
If it wasn’t for O2 3G coverage we would have only Eircom at less than 1 Gb download speed.
4G will outrun fibre optic packages in the end.
The cost of cabling fibre optic to all areas countrywide is just not feasible.
Its not worth getting. The caps they put on it are shocking. One hour at full whack will use all your minths allowance.
Needs to be unlimited and reasonable price. Anyone who gets it right now is small bit soft in the head
€55 a month on a 2 year contract….. bargain!
Vodafone 4G is not available in Ireland
Did you even read the article? If not Ireland, then what country does the map show?
4G is one thing. .what about upping usage limits..With an add on I pay nearly 80e a month and then get charged 0.03cent a mb when you go over on it . complete rip off .Vodafone have scandalous customer service and once i am out of contract I will cancel
Vodafone are a ripoff
Any chance of 2 G where I live?
Vodafone cannot even provide an adequate service as it is (any Samsung S3 users will know what I mean). Their customer support is as useful as a hole in the head!
Vodafone my arse. After numerous phone calls and shop visits I found out you have to be on a min €55 tariff. This is a disgrace of the highest order. Robbing current customers of a service that is live. Extortion and milking every penny out of people. Id go to a different provider but they are all robbing gits. I may just go back to using pay phones!
They are a joke, do well to get 3G between Portlaois and limerick, no coverage down around fermoy and do well even to get anything at all between Galway and Sligo. Vodafone you are a joke of a provider
You are all so last year – 5g is the one to get
Everyone and their mother is going to switch to three when they roll out unlimited 4g data for €20 a month.
It clogs up the network slowing down 4g speeds for everyone. That’s exactly what happened with 3g in three.
small print – service not included in republic of ireland
I laugh. Carriers charge more for 4G but it’s technically cheaper to operate if you do the research.
This might sound silly but how do you know if you have 4g. My phone is 4g ready and I’m with eMobile. But I only see 3G coming up if I’m out if the wifi area. I don’t want to be using 4g and building up a big bill without realising it .
U have to have a 4g plan and a USIM to use 4g, itll be in the network mode under LTE and ull only be connected when u hav a 4 beside the signal bar up the top of ur screen
Another “little” item that Vodafone are keeping quiet about is that their 4G service does not run on the iPhone 5 – they claim the iPhone 5 is not 4G compatible – which is rubbish, they have clearly decided not to support it to force people up upgrade to get the service!!!
Nope Apple didn’t include European LTE bands on 5 only the 5s.
Meteor are offering 4g on their iPhone 5s in ireland.
“…majority of them located south of the country,” It is no wonder there are so many comments here about its unavailability – I guess most Journal readers are landlubbers.
When 4G becomes the norm across all networks competition will drive down prices as with what happened when 3G launched.
I’m a Vodafone customer because the the tariffs available suit me and the quality of their network is probably the best but their customer care has gone to hell since they outsourced it. When they had their own call centres in Dublin and Dundalk the policy seemed to be keep the customer happy to retain their loyalty. Since they outsourced it they don’t give a crap.
When is 3 going to offer 4G? Anyone know?
Promised January but probably never
Avoid three like the plague. They don’t even own a computer. They are a total joke, where the customer is the punch line. They are the worst company I have ever dealt with. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
They are but have delayed it until Jan. With their buying of the Irish 02 network due to complete around same time they are probably waiting to amalgamate the 2 networks,
Every time the public gets used to a new technology they throw another one at us and make the old one out of fashion so we buy the nee one and spend more cash. .
Ah not sure what UR all moaning about iv never had issue with Vodafone best network of them all. Yes not the cheapest but u get wat u pay for. Iv faster internet on my fone than wi fi in house and got text advising 4g b on my I fone 5 in 2 days
Too much texting eh ANN? Spelling is a lost art I guess
They don’t know how to provide current service and how to care the customer.
In my experience Vodafone is worst service provider ever I seen
My iPhone today got carrier settings update
cellular settings shows enable 4G
I’m on the Red Plan
But were I live and travel to is not 4G enabled yet
Dublin City don’t be there much
Test Reports say download speed is 30mb and upload is 8mb in Dublin
With Vodafone
But as more users start using 4G you can expect speeds will drop
Usage Caps will most likely have to be increased
Just checked the prices. Hey floor, can I have my jaw back?
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