South Sudan frees five political detainees: intelligence agency

South Sudanese political detainees and prisoners of war pose for a photograph after walking out of prison in Juba, South Sudan October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jok Solomun

JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan freed five political detainees and prisoners of war on Thursday, although none appeared to be senior rebel officials, a category of captive whose release is required by a peace deal signed last month.

On Thursday in Juba, a National Security official who did not give his name told reporters that the release of the prisoners was in line with the peace deal signed in September in the Ethiopian capital.

There has been significant confusion recently over the fate of detainees, though the issue has long been a sticking point in successive peace deals that have failed to end the war.

Some of the men who are still detained by the Juba government have been sentenced to death, including Machar’s former spokesman James Gatdek Dak.

On Oct. 1 the president’s spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, told local broadcaster Radio Tamazuj that all political detainees had been released, under the terms of a separate agreement.

Less than a week later, prisoners at the national security agency’s main detentions center, known locally as “Blue House”, disarmed guards and seized control of part of the center. A detainee told Reuters the inmates taking action were political prisoners seeking freedom.