November 28th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s main armed opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny will be released during a Friday summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Addis Ababa, an IGAD source said today.
Yesterday, Machar, a powerful figure in South Sudan’s politics, traveled to Addis Ababa from Khartoum where he has been under house arrest since last year.
The SPLM-IO confirmed in a statement that the main armed opposition leader will participate in the IGAD summit of heads of state and government.
Machar was first detained in South Africa in late 2016 following the collapse of a 2015 peace agreement after fighting between Machar’s guards and a huge force belonging to President Salva Kiir erupted at the presidential palace in Juba.
Speaking to Nyamilepedia this morning, a source in Addis Ababa said Machar would be released on Friday.
The IGAD source said the United States and the European Union had asked the regional body that Machar must be released so peace is achieved.
“Dr. Riek Machar will be released on Friday according to what I have understood. The US and the EU had asked the IGAD to release Machar because it was not in the interest of peace to keep him detained,” the source said.
