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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 30031, member: 2262"] Kenya's William Ruto asked former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to visit South Sudan starting Friday. Before sending Odinga, Ruto talked with leaders from Uganda and Ethiopia - President Museveni and Prime Minister Abiy. Odinga needs to calm things down after South Sudan arrested First Vice President Riek Machar and his wife Angelina Teny, who runs the country's Interior Affairs ministry. Ruto already called President Salva Kiir directly about this tense situation. "I called President Kiir about what led to Vice President Machar's arrest," Ruto explained. He mentioned consulting with neighboring leaders before picking Odinga as his messenger to assess the crisis and report back with updates. The African Union plans to help fix this problem as well. AU leader Mahmoud Ali Youssouf announced he'll send a special team called the Panel of Wise. Retired Justice Effie Owuor heads this group. She broke barriers as Kenya's first female State Council, Senior Magistrate, High Court Judge, and Appeals Court Judge. Machar's political party, SPLA/M-IO, declared Thursday that the peace deal completely fell apart after presidential guards and military intelligence put Machar under house arrest. They claim that President Kiir directly ordered these actions. The arrest happened Wednesday evening, creating immediate international concern. AU Chairman Youssouf asked everyone involved to stay calm and avoid making the situation worse. He pushed for talking instead of fighting to fix problems through legal channels. Seven Western nations—including America, Britain, France, and Germany—demanded that Kiir free Machar right away. The regional organization IGAD expressed serious worry that this arrest damages the already fragile 2018 peace agreement. The dangerous situation forced both Germany and Norway to shut down their embassies in Juba, South Sudan's capital city. American and British officials reduced their staff numbers because they feared things might become more violent. Many international leaders believe that releasing Machar represents the fastest way to prevent another full civil war from erupting. [/QUOTE]

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