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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council is expressing "grave alarm" at the rapidly deteriorating security crisis in South Sudan and is urging the president and ousted vice president to swiftly end the violence and promote reconciliation.
The council strongly condemned targeted ethnic violence and the attack on a U.N. base in Akobo that killed two Indian peacekeepers and injured a third.
The U.N.'s most powerful body calls on President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar "to demonstrate leadership in bringing a swift and peaceful resolution to this crisis" in the world's newest country.
It welcomes regional efforts to open a dialogue and mediate between key leaders.
France's U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud, the current council president, warns that the crisis could lead to civil war if a solution isn't found quickly.
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