South Sudan rebels to release seized Kenyan plane

Kenya: Deputy President William Ruto has managed to convince rebels in South Sudan to release a Kenyan plane that was seized in the north of the country.

The Deputy President made the revelation yesterday after returning from a special summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he met the rebels led by Riek Machar as well as the Government of President Salva Kiir.  The DP said the plane plus its pilot had been seized in the rebel territory for the last ten days but will soon be flying back to Nairobi. No further details about the plane, its pilot or its mission in rebel-held areas have been made public so far.

“The exact dates and mechanisms of the release of the plane will be concluded in the coming days after the logistics are worked out with the rebels,” he said.

Ruto also revealed that in the next two months, South Sudan will have a framework for a transitional national unity government that includes the rebels so as to lift the country from months of inter-ethnic blood-letting.