The U.S. government imposed sanctions on a retired IDF officer on Friday for allegedly supplying weapons to both the government and opposition groups in South Sudan.
South Sudan, Africa's newest state, gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and immediately plunged into a bloody internal conflict that has claimed over 400,000 lives so far and has displaced millions of people.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Israel Ziv formerly headed the IDF's Operations Directorate, and after retiring from the military founded Global CST, a security consulting group.
Ziv used an agricultural company "as a cover for the sale of approximately $150 million worth of weapons to the [South Sudanese] government, including rifles, grenade launchers, and shoulder-fired rockets. Ziv has been paid through the oil industry and has had close collaboration with a major multinational oil firm," the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
"While Ziv maintained the loyalty of senior South Sudan government officials through bribery and promises of security support, he has also reportedly planned to organize attacks by mercenaries on South Sudanese oil fields and infrastructure, in an effort to create a problem that only his company and affiliates could solve," the statement said.
The Treasury also slapped sanctions on Gregory Vasili, who, during his time as governor of Gogrial State in South Sudan in 2017, "oversaw an explosion of intra-clan ethnic violence that resulted in scores of civilians being killed and thousands displaced from their homes," and on South Sudanese businessman Obac William Olawo, who was "engaged in the trade and shipment of arms and armaments to South Sudan."
U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said her office was "targeting individuals who have provided soldiers, armored vehicles, and weapons used to fuel the conflict in South Sudan. We are intent on holding accountable those who profit off the misery and suffering of the South Sudanese people and facilitate violence against civilians."
The sanctions allow the Treasury to seize any U.S. assets belonging to the people named and ban any U.S.-based financial transactions with them or companies controlled by them.
The sanctions also singled out Global Law Enforcement and Security and Global IZ Group, two subsidiaries of Ziv's company Global CST, which itself has attracted attention in the past over suspicious military deals.
The i24 News website reported that Ziv has been on the U.S. Treasury's radar for some time, after being flagged in 2009 over his dealings in Latin America, especially in Colombia, Panama and Peru.
Ziv was unavailable for comment.
