CCTV9英语新闻：南苏丹政府军准备围攻叛军（在线收听）

A senior official in South Sudan says government troops will attack the main stronghold of rebel forces loyal to former vice president Riek Machar if the offer of a ceasefire is rejected.

Information Minister Michael Makuei says government troops are ready to advance to Bentiu, the last state-capital held by Machar’s forces. He says the ceasefire offer, remains on the table and that the government has done all it can to bring the two-week conflict, in which more than 1,000 people have been killed, to an end.

On Friday, the government said it would release 8 of 11 senior politicians arrested over an alleged coup plot against President Salva Kiir. But Kiir’s former deputy, Machar, has reacted indifferently to the truce offer, saying any ceasefire needed to be credible and properly enforced for him to take it seriously.

South Sudan’s Vice President James Wani Igga insists the government’s offer is genuine: "Dr. Riek has put obstacles to this genuine call by issuing preconditions that the ceasefire cannot be reached unless a negotiation is conducted and he has put a number of obstacles."