United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that a peace agreement in South Sudan was in a shambles, telling the country's leaders to put down the weapons and put all the people of South Sudan first.

Tensions are rising in the oil-rich east African nation of South Sudan after Riek Machar who serves as a vice president was arrested in the capital.

The United Nations chief is urging regional and international leaders to prevent South Sudan from falling “over the abyss” into another civil war, and to speak with one voice to support a return to pe