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Sudan halts South Sudan talks after oilfield attack

11 April 2012 19:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sudan said it would mobilize its army against South Sudan on Wednesday, and halted talks with Juba after the South occupied an oilfield vital to the north’s economy, APA reports quoting Reuters.

With South Sudan in turn accusing Sudan of bombing a village on the southern side of their 1,800-km (1,200-mile) border, the African Union called for an end to clashes that threaten to spark a full-blown conflict between the former civil war foes.

South Sudan, which seceded in July, has been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute with the north over oil payments and other vital issues, as fighting has escalated in the countries’ ill-defined border region.

South Sudan’s army (SPLA) on Tuesday attacked Heglig, a disputed area containing an oilfield that accounts for about half of Sudan’s 115,000 barrel-a-day output. The South’s army claimed to hold the area on Wednesday.

"There is no doubt that Heglig area and the oil wells are under control of the SPLA," South Sudan military spokesman Philip Aguer said, adding that the north’s air force had bombed SPLA positions in Heglig and other areas.

A Sudanese official said he expected the fighting would hit oil output.

"I expect... these oilfields will be affected, definitely, and at least there will not be production. If there is a conflict in the area, this is the least," said Rahamatalla Mohamed Osman, Sudan’s undersecretary of foreign affairs.

Although the South voted to secede in a referendum over a year ago, the two sides have not yet agreed on issues including division of national debt, the status of citizens in one another’s territory and the exact position of the border.

Oil is among the most sensitive issues. Landlocked South Sudan shut down its roughly 350,000 barrel-per-day output in January in a dispute over how much it should pay to export crude using pipelines and other infrastructure in Sudan.

The two frequently accuse one another of backing rebels in their territory.

"I don’t think there can be negotiations in this climate," Osman said when asked if Sudan would halt talks.

"What happened yesterday is a violation of international laws and an aggression on Sudan, and we have all the right to defend ourselves and regain the territories which were occupied by government of South Sudan," he added.

CONTROL UNCLEAR

Khartoum said South Sudan’s armed forces were in control of Heglig town and oil wells on Tuesday night, but it was not clear who was in control on Wednesday.

Following the incursion, parliament ordered a halt to negotiations with the south aimed at resolving disputes, Sudan’s state media said.

State news agency SUNA said Sudan would order a general army mobilization but gave no further details. It quoted Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein as saying the army was capable of preserving stability and controlling the situation.

On the diplomatic front, SUNA said Sudan would halt all talks sponsored by the African Union with Juba and withdraw its negotiating team from Addis Ababa with immediate effect.

The African Union called for the "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of South Sudan’s army from Heglig and urged restraint on both sides.

South Sudan’s Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the Sudanese air force had bombed the village of Abiemnom in South Sudan’s Unity state on Wednesday, wounding four people including a child.

He said South Sudan had been acting in self defence after Sudan launched a ground attack from Heglig late on Monday. Sudanese officials also said they were only trying to defend their territory.

Sudan also urged the U.N. Security Council to call on South Sudan to withdraw from all areas inside Sudanese territory, news agency SUNA said.