South Sudan Rebels Say U.S. Pulls Funding for Machar Return

The U.S. withdrew funding to help transport South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar to the capital, Juba, to take part in a transitional government, the renegade force’s head of foreign relations said.

Machar’s supporters are now seeking support from the United Nations to fly Machar from Gambella, in western Ethiopia, to Juba, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth said Sunday in an interview. The rebels are also appealing to the U.S. to reconsider because Machar’s failure to travel may imperil a peace agreement aimed at ending the country’s two-year civil war, he said.