By Reuters
African Union mediators arrived in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Wednesday for talks aimed at averting a new civil war after First Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest last week.
President Salva Kiir’s government has accused Machar, a longtime rival who led rebel forces during a 2013-18 war that killed hundreds of thousands, of trying stir up a new rebellion.
Machar’s detention last Wednesday followed weeks of fighting in the northern Upper Nile state between the military and the White Army militia. Machar’s forces were allied with the White Army during the civil war but deny any current links.
The AU delegation’s flight arrived at Juba’s airport on Wednesday afternoon with a “Council of the Wise” which included former Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and former Kenyan judge Effie Owuor.
Machar’s SPLM-IO party said in a statement that it “warmly welcomes the arrival of the Council of
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