The leader of South Sudan's rebels, former vice president Riek Machar, has said he is not completely in charge of his forces, which have been accused of atrocities during a brutal six-month conflict.
The leader of South Sudan's rebels, former vice president Riek Machar, has said he is not completely in charge of his forces, which have been accused of atrocities during a brutal six-month conflict.
In an interview with the AFP news agency in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Saturday, Machar was asked if he was in control of his troops and replied: "No, I can't say that. I would be lying to you if I did say that."
"So I can't say I control them, but we are hoping we can control them because we are training them and we are disciplining them," Machar said.
Machar's rebels have been battling forces loyal to President Salva Kiir since December 15, when fighting between rival army factions broke out in the capital Juba.
Kiir accused Machar of having attempted a coup but has in turn been accused of starting the war by launching a purge of his rivals.
Machar admitted his forces had been cobbled together.
"When did we become an army? We were forced out of Juba, those who rebelled ... It took us time to regroup them into a viable force under a control and command" (structure), Machar told AFP.