Addis Ababa, January 2, 2014 (SSNA) — South Sudan’s rebel delegation has demanded that their colleagues who were arrested by South Sudanese president Salva Kiir should be released.
The requirement was stated by Hussein Mar Nyuot, the spokesperson for the rebels’ team.
“With the prisoners, they were actually detained because of [the] alleged coup. And these are the senior members of the SPLM, which is actually the ruling party of the country”, says Nyuot.
“And we want them to be part of these talks because what caused the problem is actually an issue of conflict within the SPLM”, he continues.
The rebel leader, Dr. Riek Machar, has on many occasions insists the release of all prisoners who are widely believed to be his political allies.
The rebels’ faction states that the senior members of the ruling party who are now in detention were arrested because of the alleged coup. The group also wants their colleagues freed because they want them to participate in the talks.
Fighting still going on between rebels’ forces and government troops loyal to president Kiir.
The conflict has already killed at least 1000 people and many people are still missing.
The warring parties are expected to start the talks this Friday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It is not clear whether the two sides will agree on a solution.