Presidential Special Envoy Nhial Deng Nhial says the proposal by the region to deploy an intervention force in South Sudan will not resolve confrontations between the SPLA and SPLA-IO.

IGAD and the African Union have resolved that another foreign force should be deployed in the country to work with UNMISS under a new mandate.

Mr Nhial says sending more foreign troops would be like “trying to crack a nut with a sledgehammer”.

Nhial Deng, who spoke at the Juba International Airport upon his return from the Rwandan capital, Kigali, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deng Alor, said the government believes the cause of fighting is the positioning of the SPLA and SPLA-IO forces in the same location.

“Therefore, we believe that there are ways in which this problem can be addressed without the need to resort to such a drastic action,” he told the media.

Mr Nhial said they argued against the decision by IGAD Heads of State in Kigali by proposing two alternatives to resolving the security issue in Juba.

He said they proposed that President Salva Kiir be allowed to provide protection to Dr Riek Machar and all SPLM-IO leaders.

The other option is for the region to modify the current mandate of UNMISS peacekeepers to include a special unit of protection for the First Vice President.

Mr. Nhial called on South Sudanese to restraint from being confrontational with the region to which the country subscribed to.