Obama, African leaders huddle on South Sudan

President Obama and African leaders discussed a number of responses, including sanctions and a military intervention, if warring factions in South Sudan do not accept a peace agreement, according to senior administration officials.

{mosads}Obama spoke for nearly two hours with leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and the African Union on Monday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

The parties agreed on “the urgency and severity of the situation on the ground,” but they remain split over what to do if the peace agreement is not accepted by an Aug. 17 deadline.

Sanctions would be aimed at pressuring South Sudan’s rival factions into accepting the peace deal. But one African nation floated the idea “a regional intervention force” during the talks.

Administration officials stressed “this was not something that the United States suggested or proposed” and it was “not a hard and fast plan.”

U.S. officials indicated they are still holding out hope for the South Sudanese to accept the peace deal.

“Frankly, the focus is on what needs to happen between now and August 17,” an official said.

The escalating conflict in South Sudan has loomed over Obama’s five-day trip to East Africa.

Obama helped pave the way for South Sudan’s independence four years ago, something his administration viewed as a significant achievement in Africa.

But a bloody civil war ensued, which has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 2 million and threatened the fledgling nation’s existence.

“I’m heartbroken by the horrific violence and civil conflict and human rights abuses that have characterized South Sudan in the last 18 months,” National Security Adviser Susan Rice told reporters last week.

Obama’s meeting with African leaders is a sign of the administration’s effort to step up its engagement in the crisis.

“This is a problem first and foremost for the region to resolve,” the official said, while adding it is becoming of a scale and intensity that all of us are ultimately, one way or another, affected.”

“Our hope is, is that we can actually bring about the kind of peace that the people of South Sudan so desperately need,” Obama said before the meeting.