The struggling, war-torn country of South Sudan was one of the east African countries that Netanyahu spoke about during his trip to Africa last week as having an interest in closer ties with Israel.
By HERB KEINONChristians in South Sudan(photo credit: REUTERS)
Just a week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with South Sudan President Salva Kiir at a summit with seven east African leaders in Uganda, the Foreign Ministry advised Israelis on Monday to stay clear of South Sudan because of continued fighting there.The struggling, war-torn country of South Sudan was one of the east African countries that Netanyahu spoke about during his trip to Africa last week as having an interest in closer ties with Israel.The Foreign Ministry put out a recommendation to Israelis to refrain from traveling to or remaining in that country.The ministry said that the recommendation comes in light of the clashes in the capital of Juba that began on Thursday and have led to “hundreds of deaths.” The recommendation is in place until the situation in the country becomes clear, the statement said. The ministry also recommended to Israelis already there leave as soon as possible.Israel is served in South Sudan by a non-resident ambassador stationed in JerusalemThe fighting broke out Thursday between troops loyal to Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and soldiers loyal to his vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer. South Sudan's two year civil war that ended last year was fought largely along ethnic lines, and some 50,000 people were killed.
