Hundreds dead in ethnic violence

JUBA (AP):Armed rebels were said to be in control of some of South Sudan's oil fields last Friday, raising questions of how long the country's oil will flow and whether Sudan could enter the conflict which showed no signs of ending.

President Salva Kiir implored his country to turn away from ethnic violence and met Friday with foreign ministers from neighbouring states, including Kenya and Ethiopia, who flew into Juba, the capital, to help calm tensions after a week of ethnic strife that is estimated to have killed hundreds.

Kiir did not speak publicly, but the government's Twitter feed attributed this quote to him: "Those who may want to take the law into their hands, the long arm of the government will get them."

Last Friday evening, United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Ambassador Donald Booth, would be travelling to the region immediately.

"Now is the time for South Sudan's leaders to rein in armed groups under their control, immediately cease attacks on civilians, and end the chain of retributive violence between different ethnic and political groups," Kerry said in a statement.