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South Sudan's main opposition leader Machar arrested
South Sudan's president Salva Kiir (left) and vice-president Riek Machar (right) shake hands after meetings in Juba, South Sudan, on October 20, 2019

SOUTH SUDAN’S main opposition party said that its leader Riek Machar has been arrested as the United Nations called on all parties to uphold the 2018 agreement that ended the country’s civil war.

The UN had warned on Monday that the country was teetering on the edge of a renewed civil war after fighting in the north between an armed group allied to Mr Machar and government forces.

Mr Machar was “in confinement by the government” and his life was “at risk,” opposition spokesperson Pal Mai Deng said in a video address to the media Wednesday night.

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