JUBA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Monday that continuous extension of an arms embargo and other sanctions by the United Nations Security Council is unhealthy for peace deal implementation in the country.
The U.N. Security Council on May 28 extended for another year the arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze for targeted individuals on South Sudan until May 31, 2022. The council expressed its readiness to adjust the measures in light of conditions on the ground.
Thomas Kenneth Elisapana, acting spokesman for South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said these punitive measures undermine the sovereignty of the nation and jeopardize the progress of revitalized agreement implementation.
"If the international community really needs the improvement of the situation in South Sudan for the betterment as it alleges, then the government thinks it is the right time to lift the sanctions," Kenneth said in a statement issued in Juba.
He said the lifting of sanctions would help the parties in the revitalized transitional government of national unity to collaborate with partners for the well-being of South Sudanese.
Kennedy appealed to the U.N. Security Council to review the resolution as the country advances toward trust-building reconciliation, healing and peaceful resolution of conflicts. Enditem