Opposition arrests spark fears over South Sudan peace deal

Security forces in South Sudan have arrested the oil minister and an army general, who are senior members of the main opposition, sparking concerns that the peace deal that ended the civil war may be under threat.

Gen Gabriel Doup Lam and Puot Kang Chol, high-ranking figures of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), are both allies of Vice-President Riek Machar, a rival of President Salva Kiir.

Its military spokesperson Col Lam Gabriel Paul told the BBC that the government had given no reasons for the arrests.

South Sudan is the world's newest nation, after seceding from Sudan in 2011. But just two years later, a civil war erupted after Machar and Kiir fell out.

After five years, with 400,000 lives lost, and 2.5 million people forced from their homes, a peace deal was agreed in 2018.

But it has been fraught with issues ever since.

Despite the arrests and increasing tension, President Kiir said South Sudan would not go back to war, government spokesperson Michael Makuei told reporters in the capital Juba on Wednesday.

Gen Lam is in charge of the military wing of the opposition party, which is yet to be integrated into the army. He was taken into custody on Tuesday.

Chol was taken by security forces in the middle of the night.

Machar's house in the capital, Juba, was surrounded by troops from the South Sudanese army overnight before they were later withdrawn.

All other senior military officials allied with Machar have been placed under house arrest, the BBC understands.

With these arrests, the peace deal hangs in the balance.

Machar's spokesperson Pal Mai Deng told the AFP news agency Gen Lam's arrest "violates" the peace act.

"This act puts the entire agreement at risk," he said.

He called on the international community to intervene.

The arrests follow reports that the White Army militia had seized a strategic town in Upper Nile state close to the Ethiopian border, after clashes with government troops.

The White Army fought alongside Machar during the civil war.

Some in the army, loyal to Kiir, have accused Machar's allies of supporting the rebels.

The UN and African Union have warned that the violence in this area could potentially spread.

Ter Manyang, head of the Juba-based Center for Peace and Advocacy, told Reuters that the fighting in this area could threaten the peace deal.

"The country is likely to slide to war unless the situation is managed by the top leadership of the country," he said.

The country has never held an election - these are now due to take place in 2026 after years of delay.

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