The United States has said that it will consider sanctions on the two South Sudan leaders if they fail to form a unity government for the troubled young nation by their self-imposed deadline of November 12, a US official said Thursday.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar agreed in a rare meeting last month to work together and help bring an end to unrest that has killed some 380,000 people and left more than six million people in dire need of food aid.
Bryan Hunt, the State Department’s office director for Sudan and South Sudan, warned that Western powers would not accept another delay in the deadline, which was already extended by six months.
Hunt said options included sanctions targeting South Sudan’s elite or restrictions on their travel to the United States.
