http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/south-sudanese-leader-briefly-arrested-in-ethiopia-2092162
South Sudanese leader briefly arrested in Ethiopia
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Africa / 22 November 2016, 09:24am
dpa
Juba - South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar was Monday briefly detained
at Addis Ababa airport, a rebel spokesman said.
Machar had arrived in the Ethiopian capital from South Africa, where he had
been staying since October 12.
The Ethiopian authorities thought he was passing through Addis Ababa to go
to the rebel headquarters in Pagak on the South Sudanese side of the
Ethiopian border, and denied him permission to travel there, spokesman
Dickson Gatluak said from the Ethiopian capital by telephone.
In fact Machar was not heading for Pagak, Gatluak said, declining to
disclose his destination.
It was not immediately possible to get confirmation from the Ethiopian
authorities.
Machar came to South Africa for medical treatment after sustaining a leg
injury while fleeing fighting between his troops and the army in South
Sudan's capital Juba in July.
He had initially fled to Congo and moved on to Sudan's capital Khartoum.
Ethiopia was concerned that Machar's presence in Pagak could "foster
clashes," Gatluak said.
A split between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Machar escalated
into a military conflict in December 2013, killing tens of thousands.
The conflict has displaced about 3 million people, according to figures
published by the UN humanitarian agency OCHA on Monday. They comprise 1.9
million internally displaced people and 1.1 million who have fled to
neighbouring countries, including 500,000 in Uganda.
Machar and Kiir signed a peace deal in August 2015 and formed a unity
government in April, but that did not stop the fighting.
*dpa*
Received on Tue Nov 22 2016 - 08:37:53 EST