
South Sudan's First Vice President Riek Machar, the long-time rival to President Salva Kiir, was arrested on Wednesday -- a move described by the UN as leaving the country on the brink of widespread conflict.
A convoy of 20 heavily armed vehicles entered Machar's residence in the capital Juba and arrested him, according to a statement issued by a member of his party, in a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has been building for weeks in the world's youngest country.