The US and the region have agreed to give the government sometime to operationalize the peace agreement as they discuss the deployment of a regional protection force in the country, the Minister of Information has announced.

Micheal Makuei Lueth says this was the outcome of the recent meeting between a delegation from Juba and the US Secretary of State, John Kerry.

The deployment of the force has been approved by the UN Security Council.

Mr Makuei says the government has been given conditions to expedite the implementation process and cease hostilities, among others.

“We would be given time provided that we moved very fast, provided that we silence the guns, provided that we talked to the IDPs so that they move out of the displacement camps so that they go back to their respective homes, and then we continue to negotiate with the region on the idea of the protection force,” the minister told the media.

He added that the regional protection force will not be deployed immediately as expected.

“They are not coming soon and we are to negotiate, because there is no way an intervention force or a foreign force can enter any nation without the consent of that country.

During his recent visit, John Kerry, said the deployment of a protection force will guarantee safety of the civilians and enable investors to return to the country.

Mr Kerry says the 4,000 troops from the region would also complement efforts of the Transitional Government of National Unity by providing security to non-combatants in Juba.