John Kirby
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
July 12, 2016
Excerpted Transcript:
MR KIRBY: Afternoon, everybody.
QUESTION: Good afternoon.
MR KIRBY: Book gets heavier every day. A couple things at the top, so please bear with me.
First on South Sudan, we understand that the unilateral ceasefires called by both the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and government and in opposition on July 11th appear to be holding despite reports of sporadic gunfire in some parts of Juba and scattered fighting in the town of Wau. The Secretary spoke for the second time with the prime minister of Ethiopia, President Kenyatta of Kenya, and for the first time with President Museveni of Uganda yesterday, regarding next steps in a coordinated regional response. We are, of course, working closely with international partners to address the conflict in South Sudan.
Both the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Union Peace and Security Council have released communiques calling for enhancements to the UN mission in South Sudan and the mandate for that mission, and an increase in the number of peacekeepers. We are reviewing these communiques and discussing with our partners in the Security Council.
The U.S. embassy is reducing its staff still in South Sudan. The embassy released a security message today stating that the U.S. Government brought assets to Juba to implement the decision for a reduction in embassy staff, otherwise known as an ordered departure, and to provide support to conduct a safe and orderly departure of private American citizens and third-country nationals as needed over the coming days. I want to stress again what I said yesterday: The embassy is not evacuating. Non-emergency U.S. embassy personnel continue to depart the country via this ordered departure process.
Due to ongoing security concerns, we do want to again say that citizens should remain vigilant when moving about the city. We continue to press, obviously, the leaders in South Sudan to end the fighting and to provide unfettered humanitarian access to those that are in need. So we’re staying on top of this. We’re watching it very, very closely. The Secretary remains engaged, our ambassador in Juba remains engaged, and we are continuing the ordered withdrawal of embassy personnel.
QUESTION: Is the ambassador leaving also?
MR KIRBY: The ambassador is still there.
QUESTION: Is she going to be – he or she going to be part of this?
MR KIRBY: I don’t foresee that. I don’t foresee that. Again, as you know, an ordered departure is non-emergency personnel; it’s not everybody. The ambassador is essential personnel.
Distributed by APO on behalf of _.
Source: Apo-Opa
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