South Sudan Releases Remaining Detainees

In a statement, President Uhuru Kenyatta said he has personally recieved the four.

General Okiech Pag’an Amum, Ambassador Ezekiel Gatkuoth Lol, General Ajak Oyay Deng and  General Dr. Atem Majak Agoot were releasedin line with an agreement signed on 23rd January, 2014 in Addis Ababa.

Their release was conditional for the beginning of peace talks.

‘It is my expectation that we in the region can now single-mindedly and without distraction focus on the cessation of hostilities, the opening of humanitarian corridors and on creating the right conditions for those

currently in the camps to go back to their homes and farms,’ said President Kenyatta.

‘IGAD will embark on the full operationalization of the monitoring and verification mechanism, the identification of the potential areas of work for the monitoring and verification teams,’ added President Kenyatta.

‘We need to move quickly to secure the gains that the Government of South Sudan and IGAD have made so far and move to the next phase of a face to face dialogue between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, stated the Head of State.

President Kenyatta welcomed the four to Kenya, saying he looked forward  to their participation in the process of reforms and reconciliation in South Sudan.

President Kiir on Friday said he was ready to hold face-to-face talks with rebel leader Riek Machar to try to end more than four months of violence.

By Maureen Murimi