NAIROBI: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Friday denounced restrictions on humanitarian access in South Sudan as fighting has intensified between rival factions over the past month.
Fighting erupted in Jonglei state, north of the capital Juba, in late December, in the latest clashes between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, displacing at least 180,000 people according to the United Nations.
MSF is the only health provider to almost 400,000 people in the state, it said, saying the government has blocked humanitarian flights to the Lankien, Pieri, and Akobo areas, preventing them from supplying medicines and personnel as well as evacuating critical patients.
Its team in Pieri was forced to evacuate its facility on Thursday due to the imminent danger of armed conflict, it said in a statement, discharging patients and grabbing emergency kits as they fled the town with the local population.
“Patients will die if the government continues to block humanitarian and medical access in Jonglei,” said Abdalla Hussein, MSF desk manager for South Sudan in the statement.
“Imposing restrictions on humanitarian aid and preventing people from accessing health care is a crude political maneuver... This must stop immediately.”
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by the violence in Jonglei, “which has caused many deaths, injuries and the reported displacement of 180,000 civilians.”
The government claimed this week it was “not at war” and that the security operation in Jonglei was a “necessary measure aimed at halting the advance of rebel forces.”
South Sudan is the world’s youngest country and has been beset by civil war, poverty and massive corruption since it was formed in 2011.
Supporters of Kiir and Machar fought a civil war from 2013 and 2018 that killed an estimated 400,000 people.
They subsequently formed a power-sharing government under a UN-backed peace deal, but it has been unraveling over the past year, with Machar jailed and put on trial for “crimes against humanity.”
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MSF denounces denial of humanitarian access in South Sudan
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MSF denounces denial of humanitarian access in South Sudan
- MSF is the only health provider to almost 400,000 people in the state
- “Patients will die if the government continues to block humanitarian and medical access in Jonglei,” said Hussein
Starmer’s chief of staff quits over former US ambassador's Epstein ties
- Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising UK's PM to appoint Peter Mandelson as Washington envoy
- Epstein files suggest that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was part of UK government
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff resigned Sunday over the furor surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to the US despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, 72, to Britain’s most important diplomatic post in 2024.
“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in a statement. “When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”
Starmer is facing a political storm and questions about his judgment after newly published documents, part of a huge trove of Epstein files made public in the United States, suggested that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the UK government’s business secretary during the 2008 financial crisis.
Starmer’s government has promised to release its own emails and other documentation related to Mandelson’s appointment, which it says will show that Mandelson misled officials.
The prime minister apologized this week for “having believed Mandelson’s lies.”
He acknowledged that when Mandelson was chosen for the top diplomat job in 2024, the vetting process had revealed that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued after the latter’s 2008 conviction. But Starmer maintained that “none of us knew the depth of the darkness” of that relationship at the time.
A number of lawmakers said Starmer is ultimately responsible for the scandal.
“Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions,” said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party.
Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, has not been arrested or charged.
Metropolitan Police officers searched Mandelson’s London home and another property linked to him on Friday. Police said the investigation is complex and will require “a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis.”
The UK police investigation centers on potential misconduct in public office, and Mandelson is not accused of any sexual offenses.
Starmer had fired Mandelson in September from his ambassadorial job over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties. But critics say the emails recently published by the US Justice Department have brought serious concerns about Starmer’s judgment to the fore. They argue that he should have known better than to appoint Mandelson in the first place.
The new revelations include documents suggesting Mandelson shared sensitive government information with Epstein after the 2008 global financial crisis. They also include records of payments totaling $75,000 in 2003 and 2004 from Epstein to accounts linked to Mandelson or his husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Aside from his association with Epstein, Mandelson previously had to resign twice from senior government posts because of scandals over money or ethics.
Starmer had faced growing pressure over the past week to fire McSweeney, who is regarded as a key adviser in Downing Street and seen as a close ally of Mandelson.
Starmer on Sunday credited McSweeney as a central figure in running Labour’s recent election campaign and the party’s 2004 landslide victory. His statement did not mention the Mandelson scandal.
Morgan McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, 72, to Britain’s most important diplomatic post in 2024.
“The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself,” McSweeney said in a statement. “When asked, I advised the Prime Minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice.”
Starmer is facing a political storm and questions about his judgment after newly published documents, part of a huge trove of Epstein files made public in the United States, suggested that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the UK government’s business secretary during the 2008 financial crisis.
Starmer’s government has promised to release its own emails and other documentation related to Mandelson’s appointment, which it says will show that Mandelson misled officials.
The prime minister apologized this week for “having believed Mandelson’s lies.”
He acknowledged that when Mandelson was chosen for the top diplomat job in 2024, the vetting process had revealed that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued after the latter’s 2008 conviction. But Starmer maintained that “none of us knew the depth of the darkness” of that relationship at the time.
A number of lawmakers said Starmer is ultimately responsible for the scandal.
“Keir Starmer has to take responsibility for his own terrible decisions,” said Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party.
Mandelson, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, has not been arrested or charged.
Metropolitan Police officers searched Mandelson’s London home and another property linked to him on Friday. Police said the investigation is complex and will require “a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis.”
The UK police investigation centers on potential misconduct in public office, and Mandelson is not accused of any sexual offenses.
Starmer had fired Mandelson in September from his ambassadorial job over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties. But critics say the emails recently published by the US Justice Department have brought serious concerns about Starmer’s judgment to the fore. They argue that he should have known better than to appoint Mandelson in the first place.
The new revelations include documents suggesting Mandelson shared sensitive government information with Epstein after the 2008 global financial crisis. They also include records of payments totaling $75,000 in 2003 and 2004 from Epstein to accounts linked to Mandelson or his husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Aside from his association with Epstein, Mandelson previously had to resign twice from senior government posts because of scandals over money or ethics.
Starmer had faced growing pressure over the past week to fire McSweeney, who is regarded as a key adviser in Downing Street and seen as a close ally of Mandelson.
Starmer on Sunday credited McSweeney as a central figure in running Labour’s recent election campaign and the party’s 2004 landslide victory. His statement did not mention the Mandelson scandal.
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