Fugitive S.Sudan rebel leader hospitalized in Khartoum

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan

South Sudan fugitive rebel leader and former First Vice-President Riek Machar is in Khartoum for medical treatment, the Sudanese government said Tuesday.

The announcement comes on the same day Taban Deng Gai, Machar’s replacement after he was sacked, ended an official visit to Khartoum.

He took part in talks with Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir and his deputy Bakri Hassan Salih.

Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said in a press release that Sudan received Machar, who was hospitalized in a Khartoum private hospital for medical treatment.

''Sudan has recently received Dr. Rick Machar on purely humanitarian reasons [on] top of which [is] his need for urgent medical attention, as when he arrived his health conditions required urgent medical attention,'' the statement said.

No date of the hospitalization or specific ailment was mentioned.

Osman said his government has notified South Sudan, adding, ''The health condition of Dr. Rick Machar is now stable and he will stay in the country under full medical supervision until he leaves the country for a destination of his choice to complete his medical treatment.”

Last Friday the United Nations announced that Machar had arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after fleeing South Sudan.

His opposition SPLM/IO army has battled government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir since July 11.