South Sudan on edge as army hunts coup plotters

Chief among the wanted is former Vice President Riek Machar, who is now believed to be in hiding after he was identified by President Salva Kiir as the political leader favored by a faction of soldiers who tried to seize power earlier this week, he said.

“They are still looking for more ... who are suspected of being behind the coup,” Benjamin said, referring to the military.

The United States Embassy in Juba and the U.N. Mission in South Sudan denied they are harboring Machar, he said.

The hunt for Machar, an influential politician who is one of the heroes of a brutal war of independence waged against Sudan, threatens to send the world's youngest country into further political upheaval following months of a power struggle between Kiir and his former deputy.

Machar, the deputy leader of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said he would contest the presidency in 2015 after Machar fired him in July. He has openly criticized Kiir, saying that if the country is to be united it cannot tolerate “one man's rule or it cannot tolerate dictatorship.”