{UAH} S.Sudan battles rage, peace talks hit hurdle

South Sudan's government and rebels were locked in fierce battles across the country on Wednesday, as peace talks taking place in neighbouring Ethiopia appeared to flounder.

A rebel spokesman indicated that there would be no imminent truce in the country unless the government freed a group of alleged coup plotters detained after the fighting began more than three weeks ago, a demand again rejected by Juba.

Military officials from both sides meanwhile said that a major battle was still raging for control of Bor, capital of Jonglei State and situated just north of the capital Juba.

Fighting was also taking place in the oil-producing Upper Nile State, while the rebels said more troops previously based in Juba had defected from the government side and could launch an assault on the capital.

"Our forces are coordinating themselves," rebel spokesman Moses Ruai Lat said, adding that anti-government fighters were preparing to strike at Juba and Malakal, capital of Upper Nile State.

The spokesman for the national army, Philip Aguer, confirmed fighting was in progress around Bor. An AFP reporter reached the town of Minkammen, 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of Bor, and said the area was flooded with fleeing civilians and that the rumble of heavy artillery fire could be heard in the distance.

"People fleeing the fighting around Bor keep coming by boat every day, we are doing our best to support them," said John Parach, a local government relief coordinator.

The unrest began on December 15 as a clash between army units loyal to South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and those loyal to ex-vice president Riek Machar, and has escalated into war between government troops and a loose alliance of ethnic militia forces and mutinous army commanders.

Thousands of people have already been killed, aid workers say, while more than 200,000 have fled their homes -- many of them seeking protection from overstretched UN peacekeepers amid a wave of ethnic violence pitting members of Kiir's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer tribe.

The two sides have been holding peace talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, but the rebel delegation signalled the chances of an immediate truce was slim because the anti-government side wanted its detained allies freed by Juba.

"Our colleagues must be released so that they come and participate," rebel spokesman Yohanis Musa Pauk told reporters in Addis Ababa.

"You cannot go to negotiations while there are some people being detained. We are just waiting for the release of our detainees, when they release them very soon we will sign the cessation of hostilities agreement," he added.

'Unfolding humanitarian catastrophe'

The government is currently holding 11 of Machar's allies, many of them senior figures and former ministers, and has been under pressure from IGAD -- the East African regional bloc trying to broker a truce -- as well as Western diplomats to release them as a goodwill gesture.

The government, however, has so far resisted the demands and maintains the detainees should be put on trial for their role in what the president says was an attempted coup.

"The government is still insisting that those who were found to be attempting to take power by force have to go through legal procedures," presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said.

"If they are found not guilty they will be released. But if they are found to be the ones who masterminded the failed coup attempt on the 15, then the law has to take its measures," he added.

The humanitarian crisis in South Sudan meanwhile continued to worsen, with Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), describing the situation as "dire".

"South Sudan is facing a serious crisis that comes on top of a situation that was already difficult," said the ICRC president. "It is unquestionable that the needs are dire, but their full scope is unknown."

He also appealed to the warring factions to "respect humanitarian law".

The exact toll of the conflict is unclear. The UN has said well over a thousand people have died, although sources from a number of relief organisations say they believe the number of fatalities is already well into the thousands given the intensity of the initial fighting and violence in Juba, as well as the ongoing fierce clashes in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states.

Atrocities have also been committed by both sides, and the UN has said it will investigate crimes against humanity thought to have been committed.

"We've got an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe... on top of a situation where we were already aiming to help 3.1 million in South Sudan," Lanzer added.

"It is a really critical period for the country. Hostilities just have to end."

According to UN figures, 200,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, with more than 30,000 fleeing the country altogether, mainly to neighbouring Uganda.

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