South Sudan will release most of a group of politicians accused by the government of links to a foiled coup plot against President Salva Kiir, the United States envoy to South Sudan and a senior government official said on Friday.
"We were very encouraged to hear the president reiterate that with the exception of three of the senior Sudan People's Liberation Movement (party) officials who have been detained...the others will be released very shortly," U.S. Envoy Donald Booth told South Sudan state television.
The release of the 11 prominent politicians arrested by the government after violence erupted on Dec. 15 is a key rebel condition for peace talks.
Earlier, South Sudan's neighbors said on Friday they would not accept any violent overthrow of President Salva Kiir's democratically elected government after almost two weeks of clashes between government troops and those loyal to his former deputy. Speaking at an extraordinary heads of state meeting held by east African body Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta urged Kiir and ex-vice president Riek Machar to seize "the small window of opportunity" and start peace talks. This as South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has not gone to Kenyan capital Nairobi to attend a meeting of African leaders trying to mediate an end to nearly two weeks of fighting that has killed thousands, a Kenyan official said. Two Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) delegations have traveled to Juba since violence erupted on Dec. 15 in the world's newest state but they have not managed to get Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar to meet. UN: 120,000 people displaced by S Sudan violence:
The United Nations says more than 120,000 people have been displaced by continuing violence in South Sudan, and about half are now sheltering at U.N. compounds.
The number of internally displaced people has been rising since fighting started on Dec. 15 in the capital, Juba, before spreading across the oil-producing East African nation.
Aid agencies now need at least $166 million to save lives, according to the U.N., which has urged South Sudan's leaders to start talks. REUTERS/AP