page_title: Salva Kiir Mayardit
section_title: Foreign policy
hierarchical_section_title: Salva Kiir Mayardit / Presidency / Foreign policy
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with South Sudan President Salva Kiir before the conclusion of the 50th anniversary African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 26, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
context_page_description: Salva Kiir Mayardit, also known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who has been President of South Sudan since its independence in 2011. Prior to independence, he was President of the Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011. He was named Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army in 2005, following the death of John Garang.
context_section_description: In mid-October 2011, Kiir announced South Sudan had applied for accession to the East African Community. He declared the EAC to be "at the centre of our hearts" due to its members' support of the South during the Sudanese civil wars.
  On 20 December 2011, Kiir visited Israel to thank it for its support during the First Sudanese Civil War from 1956 to 1972, and met with Israeli president Shimon Peres to discuss establishing an embassy in Jerusalem, which would make South Sudan the first country to have one in that city.
  After the outbreak of the South Sudanese civil war, Salva Kiir delivered a speech in January 2014 lashing out at the United Nations and “so-called humanitarian organizations,” accusing them of supporting Riek Machar to try to overthrow him. He accused the UN of sheltering his enemies on their bases adding, “There is a problem with the international community, and it is something that people will have to thrash out with them.”
  In March 2014, Kiir's government organized a rally accusing the United Nations of colluding with anti-government forces. Protesters carried signs accusing the UN of arming anti-government forces.
  Relations between Kiir's government and some erstwhile supporters deteriorated since the start of the civil war. He disclosed in an op-ed published in his name in the Washington Times in October 2015 that unnamed "international partners in peace" had threatened his government with sanctions, the withdrawal of aid support, and referrals to the International Criminal Court.
caption: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with President Kiir, May 26, 2013
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