United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council have called on South Sudan's president to free several political detainees who are at the center of efforts to begin a truce in the African country.


Ban said on Friday that he had spoken with Salva Kiir on Thursday.

“I called President Salva Kiir yesterday again and urged him to demonstrate leadership and political flexibility by immediately releasing political prisoners,” the UN leader said, adding, “South Sudan is at a crossroads.”

The 15-nation Security Council also called for the release of the detainees to “create an environment conducive to a successful dialogue” between Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar.

Violent clashes erupted in South Sudan on December 15, after President Kiir accused Machar of attempting to stage a coup. The former vice president denied the accusations.

The peace talks between the warring sides in Ethiopia have reached a deadlock with the US special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Donald Booth, saying that the fate of political prisoners “has been a stumbling block” for the negotiations.

South Sudan’s government currently has 11 of Machar’s allies under arrest, many of them top officials and former ministers.

Rebel sources said there would be no imminent ceasefire in South Sudan unless the government frees the jailed politicians.

The South Sudanese government has so far rejected to release them, saying those detained must face legal proceedings.

Ban also said extensive human rights violations had been committed in the African country and he would send Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic to South Sudan this weekend to review evidence of abuses.

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from the North.