Bloomberg News

By David Malingha Doya and William Davison
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — Seven politicians detained by the South Sudanese authorities last month after being accused of
plotting a coup against President Salva Kiir have been transferred to Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta said.
The seven arrived in Kenya today after the South Sudanese authorities recommended their release, Kenyatta told reporters
today in the capital, Nairobi. Four politicians remain in custody in South Sudan, John Luk Jok, one of the people
transferred to Kenya, said at the briefing.
“We agreed at the IGAD summit in Nairobi last month that one of the principles of engagement with South Sudan would be
the release of these detainees,” Kenyatta said, referring to talks mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development. “Today we act in line with that commitment.”
South Sudan’s government announced yesterday it plans to prosecute former Vice President Riek Machar and six other
people, including Pagan Amum, the former secretary-general of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, of being involved
in a failed coup attempt against Kiir. The government had insufficient proof to prosecute at least 6 other politicians,
Justice Minister Paulino Wanawilla Onango said at the briefing.
The attempted coup sparked violence that has killed thousands of people and forced at least 820,000 more to flee
their homes, according to the United Nations. Clashes have continued even after the government and rebel forces signed a
cease-fire agreement on Jan. 23.

Peace Talks

The UN, European Union, U.K. and U.S. have called for the release of the detainees to help restore peace. There is no
evidence of the alleged Dec. 15 coup attempt, according to the U.S. State Department.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a group of seven East African nations mediating in the dispute, plans to
resume peace talks on Feb. 7. The rebels have said they won’t participate in the talks unless the detainees are also present.
South Sudan has sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest oil reserves, according to data from BP Plc. The country is
currently producing 175,000 barrels of oil a day from two blocks in Upper Nile, Petroleum Ministry Undersecretary Machar Achiek said yesterday. Crude wells in Unity are not producing after being damaged by rebels, he said.
The figures “sound accurate” as security forces loyal to Kiir were able to protect oilfields in Upper Nile that account
for more than 80 percent of national production, said Luke Patey, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for
International Studies. Remote oil fields in Unity were likely to have been shut down rapidly because of threats from rebel
factions, Patey said in a phone interview from Copenhagen.

Machar’s Goal

“I don’t think it was Machar’s goal at all to damage the oil industry, that would not meet his objectives,” he said
today. “I think he wanted to threaten it.”
Rebel forces “repulsed” a government attack yesterday near Malakal, capital of the oil-rich Upper Nile state,
Brigadier-General Lul Ruai Koang, a spokesman for the insurgents, said in a mobile-phone text message today. There was
sporadic violence in Upper Nile and Unity state, with peacekeepers reporting that parts of Mayom town in Unity had
been burnt, the UN said in an e-mailed statement.