KHARTOUM, Jan. 9 -- South Sudan's Foreign Minister Barnaba Benjamin on Thursday reiterated that South Sudan army would soon recapture Bor and Bantio towns, held by rebels loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar.

"The government in South Sudan is in complete control of the situations, and there is no existence for the rebels except in the towns of Bor and Bantio," Benjamin told reporters following his meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum Thursday.

"The position of the government is constitutional and legal, and its responsibility is to impose the law and preserve the national sovereignty. And as the government is continuing the negotiations in Addis Ababa, it is also working to bring the matters on the ground back to normal," he added.