By James Macharia and Richard Lough
NAIROBI (Reuters) - South Sudan freed seven senior political figures on Wednesday who had been arrested on suspicion of plotting a coup, partially meeting a rebel demand at peace talks focused on ending weeks of fighting.
It also said four remaining detainees could be released once unspecified "legal clarifications" had been made - raising hopes it was prepared to remove a major sticking point in troubled negotiations.
President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president Riek Machar of starting fighting between rival groups of soldiers in Juba, the capital of the oil-producing nation, in mid December, in a bid to seize power - a charge denied my Machar.
Security services detained the 11 men, including former justice minister John Luk Jok, on suspicion of being involved, as clashes between government troops and now rebel fighters loyal to Machar quickly spread in the world's newest nation, killing thousands.
Washington, the United Nations, regional and Western powers - fearing the eruption of a full civil war in an unstable region - pushed both sides to start talks in Ethiopia and urged the government to respond to Machar's demand to free all 11.
South Sudan's justice minister had said on Tuesday the seven would be freed as no evidence was found against them. They were flown to neighbouring Kenya on Wednesday.
"We don't feel bitter, we don't feel the president is our enemy," former justice minister Jok told reporters in Kenya's capital Nairobi. Former finance minister Kosti Manibe was also among the seven freed.
CLARIFICATION
South Sudan's foreign minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said on Wednesday authorities were still waiting for clarification on statements relating to the four remaining detainees.
"They will definitely be released once you get full satisfaction on the issues," he told Reuters in Addis Ababa, without giving a timeframe.
Current Justice Minister Paulino Wanawilla Unago did say on Tuesday others, including Machar, could still face treason charges, which carry the death penalty - a prosecution that could still disrupt peace efforts.
More than half a million have been uprooted from their homes in the clashes that spread to oil-producing areas - South Sudan has sub-Saharan Africa's third largest crude reserves according to BP.
Both sides signed a ceasefire on Thursday but have since accused the other of continuing the violence.
U.S. President Barack Obama last week said South Sudan must quickly release the detainees.
"I would not prejudge how the government is going to deal with those that they still have under investigation, but they have been very clearly put on notice that these people are critical for the political process," a senior U.S. official told Reuters in Ethiopia on the sidelines of an African Union summit.
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, who appeared with the freed detainees, said east African leaders would continue pressing Kiir for the release of those still in detention.
Kenyan officials said the seven would be involved in the peace talks.
"The peace negotiations will be going on for weeks and during that time they will be here and also helping and taking part in the peace process," Kenyatta's spokesman Manoah Esipisu told Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa and Andrew Green in Juba; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
