James Wani Igga, Vice President

The government says the process is underway for the release of the remaining four political detainees who are being held in Juba.

On Wednesday, the government released seven of the eleven men who were detained after being accused of staging what the government said was an attempted coup foiled by the army last month.

Last week, the warring parties signed two agreements on a cessation of hostilities and the question of the release of the detainees.

Vice President James Wani Igga said last night that the government has ceased military operations.

He was speaking to journalists on the sideline of the 22^nd Ordinary Summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

“We have ceased hostilities as we signed with the rebels an agreement on cessation of hostilities, and with that we have fulfilled the four demands put forward by IGAD, that is cessation of hostilities, number two, is dialogue and we are in continued dialogue of course, and number three is humanitarian access and we have asked countries from the international community if they can come and assist those who have been displaced, we are also working on this issue,” he said.

“And we are also now working on the issue of the release of these detainees, out of the eleven we released seven yesterday and remain four and these four are undergoing the process, and I think the process is going well,” he added.

Mr. Igga said he met Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir and discussed with him the way to reach a lasting solution to the current crisis in South Sudan.

“Sudan is exerting its effort; truly it is playing a pivotal role. Yesterday I met with President Omar El-Bashir, and it was a fruitful meeting, and we looked into this crisis and we thanked Sudan for the role they are playing inside IGAD, which is a positive role. We also discussed with him the pending issues in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. And basically with Sudan, things are moving in the right direction,” he said.

The African Union summit is scheduled to end today.